Red Moon Rise
by Relena for President
Summary: A.C. 213. Heero and Relena are reunited after months apart and, at long last, planning a future together. But, as all too often with this fated pair, complications never fail to arise... Sequel to 'Red Moon Glow.'
1. Prologue: In Bloom

_Perhaps you see roses blooming on dark, deep wooden skin._

 _From the same stalk that strikes lingering agony;_

 _Now, life bursts forth a blaze of serene red;_

 _And rushes higher, scattering brilliant light._

 _The crucifix no longer signifies the grave._

 _The fragrance that rushes to greet you is_

 _The perfume of rebirth._

 _Friedrich Lienhard (Gundam Wing, Ground Zero)_

 _ **Prologue: In Bloom**_

 **April 7, A.C. 212**

 **Brussels, Belgium**

The black limousine was still parked outside of the restaurant, just as Dorothy said it would be. Heero Yuy steeled himself for the encounter, not quite sure what to expect. Would she be glad to see him, or annoyed that he was late to yet another one of her birthday celebrations?

After a moment's hesitation, he opened the door to the backseat. Unlocked. Heero cursed under his breath. He thought she would know better than that, by now. But, then…

It was clear, looking at the disheveled Relena Darlian slumped in the backseat, that she was intoxicated.

Heero frowned as he slid in beside her. She wrenched her head up and peered at him from under her mussed-up bangs.

"Heero?" She started to sit up, then fell back against the seat. "What are you doing here?"

"Wishing you a happy birthday." He couldn't help but smirk at her, but only after locking the car doors. "Why aren't you at your party?"

"It was stupid," she muttered, patting down her pink tulle skirt. Heero eyed the microscopic dress she was wearing, which appeared to be nothing more than a corset tucked into a short - but pouffy - skirt. She looked more like a fairy than a princess, and the dress was nothing like her usual attire. Especially since today, she had turned 32. Heero arched a brow in amusement.

"Where's Carter?" He all but spat the name of Relena's current beau.

" _He's_ stupid," she declared, looking out the car window at what appeared to be nothing in particular. They were in a parking lot, after all.

"What happened?" Heero asked, even though he didn't want to know.

"I dumped him." Relena shrugged her shoulders. "He is no longer in the picture."

"Good." Heero reached for the half-full bottle of champagne Relena was clutching, and took a swig. "Never liked the guy."

Relena exhaled loudly, sending her bangs flying in different directions. " _Reeeally? Nooo…"_ Her tone dripped with sarcasm. She snatched the bottle back from Heero and took a long drink before handing it back to him. "You never like anyone."

 _I don't like anyone who takes you away from me,_ Heero wanted to say, but didn't. Instead he just studied Relena for a moment, trying to surmise just how inebriated she was. He had also had a few drinks at the bar before coming to find her, trying to dull his nerves in case he would have to spend the night watching Relena draped all over some other guy.

"You're better off," he said finally. "Now let's get you home."

"But I don't _want_ to go home," Relena protested, turning sapphire eyes up to him. She reached over and tugged the lapel of his jacket, jutting her lower lip out, ever so slightly. "It's my birthday party."

Heero chuckled. "Party for one," he murmured as he lifted a hand to smooth her messy bangs.

"Party for two, now." Relena's eyes danced up at him. "Bet you didn't get me a present, though."

Heero rolled his eyes at her. "I just got back from your apartment on L1, where I installed an all-new biometric security system. You'll need to use genetic identifiers to enter the apartment, from now on. It's much more secure."

Relena gaped up at him. "That's it?"

"It's state of the art." Heero frowned. He had a feeling she wouldn't be all that impressed, but it had taken him a lot of work to install, and would cost anyone else a fortune.

"You know," Relena sighed before taking another long sip of wine. "Most girls would rather have something sparkly…"

"You told me a long time ago not to buy you jewelry. Besides," Heero added, "up until tonight, you had a boyfriend. Buying you something like that… it wouldn't be my place."

"Ah, like that's ever stopped you before," Relena purred, fingering Heero's jacket.

Actually, it had; every time Relena decided to date someone, Heero did his best to back off. Even if she didn't always make it easy. But he wasn't about to argue with her. Instead he brought a hand up to her face and caressed her cheek. She smiled at him before closing her eyes and leaning into his palm.

"I find you… hard to resist," he admitted.

"Good." Her eyes fluttered back open, and her smile faded. She looked deadly serious, now. "Then make love to me."

"What?" Heero's eyes widened at her blunt delivery.

"Make love to me," she repeated, her tone more demanding this time.

Heero's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

" _Why?"_ Relena tossed back at him. "Why not?"

"Because you just broke up with someone." Heero backed up, attempting to put some space between them. "Because you've had a lot to drink, and you're not thinking clearly."

Relena laughed darkly. "I'm thinking _very_ clearly. And anyway, Carter doesn't matter. He never mattered." Her eyes gleamed. "I only want _you._ "

Heero's heart pounded. He wasn't sure if he should believe what he was hearing, but damn if she wasn't convincing... "You're sure?"

"Yes." Relena placed both of her hands on his chest. "I'm absolutely sure."

Heero's eyes focused on her pink lips as they parted, waiting for a kiss. He leaned in and complied with her unspoken request. As they kissed, he pulled her in closer to him. Her hands grasped his jacket; his hands wove themselves in her long hair. Their kisses deepened and increased in fervency as he lowered her against the car seat, before abruptly breaking away.

"Relena," he said firmly, looking her square in the eyes. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," she gasped, her eyes blinking up at him. Heero lifted his hand to her face and gently ran his thumb along her jawline, keeping his eyes locked on hers. He knew, as he had always known, that he could spend forever staring into those eyes, drowning in the infinite blue.

He leaned his face closer, close enough to brush their lips together once more.

"Stop running away from me," he said hotly. Relena's eyes widened before he captured her lips in another kiss.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Dear readers, one year ago today I posted_ Red Moon Glow _, so it was high time - and only appropriate - to start posting the sequel. I will warn you, though, that I have no idea where this one is going... no set plan at all. Which is fun, and kind of scary! Since this chapter opened with a flashback, the true sequel has yet to really start. This particular scene was referred to, but never shown, in_ Red Moon Glow _, so I wanted to flesh it out, if you will ;) And unlike RMG, this story is going to showcase Heero's point of view... like_ RMG _, this story will rely heavily on flashbacks, which I think will be fun - and different! - from Heero's perspective. Anyway... you've been asking, so here it is!_

 _Yes, I have a few other stories going. And yes, I do plan to finish them- promise. I may not update them all at once - especially with wedding planning taking up sooo much of my attention right now - but rest assured that I always set out to finish what I start. I hope you will enjoy this one... more to come!_

 _Cheers!_

 _\- RFP_


	2. Matters of the Heart

**Last time, in _Red Moon Glow_...**

 _"So, no regrets?" Relena asked after their faces parted. Heero frowned at her._

 _"Of course not," he said fervently, emphasizing each word. "Why would you ask?"_

 _"Because, this is a big change for you. For us," she amended. "I can't imagine what it must feel like, after being confined for months, you come out and end up with… a pregnant wife-to-be?" She shook her head, still not quite believing what was happening. "And two babies?"_

 _Heero didn't answer her right away, just placed his hands on her abdomen, caressing her baby bump gently while leveling her with a tender, longing-filled gaze._

 _"Relena." Her heart still flipped every time she heard him speak her name. She rested her hands on top of his and thought, for just a glimmer of a second, that his eyes looked moist. "I can't begin to tell you how it makes me feel."_

 _He lowered his head to hers, pressing their foreheads together. She closed her eyes, savoring their connection. Heero was here. He was this close. She vowed then and there to never come so close to losing him, ever again._

 _"You have to promise me something," she whispered._

 _"Anything," came his near-instant reply._

 _"Don't go running away from me." Tears leapt to her eyes as she stared into his, nose to nose. "Never again."_

 _His smile seemed to touch his eyes. "Never," he repeated. He lifted his hand to her cheek, once again brushing away her stray tears. "I'm yours. Always."_

* * *

 **January 1, A.C. 213 (Present day)**

 **ESUN hospital, L3 Colony**

"Okay, it's your turn."

"My turn?" Both of Heero's eyebrows shot up.

"Yes." Relena poked his chest playfully. "Time for you to get checked out."

"What for?" He frowned at her as she slid off of the exam table and started gathering up her things. "I'm fine."

"Well, we don't know that." Relena frowned right back at him. "You just spent the last three months in captivity, Heero."

He wanted to laugh at her earnest expression, but didn't want to hurt her feelings. "It wasn't that bad," he said simply. Relena arched a brow at that.

"Not so bad?" she challenged. "You said you were _tortured_." That last word came out in a whisper.

"Not all torture is physical," Heero said quietly. Relena shuddered, and he decided not to elaborate.

Over the past three months, he had been forced by his captor, billionaire real estate tycoon-turned-space-mogul Talon Van Holt, to configure the Zero System to operate a fleet of mobile dolls, as part of the man's diabolical plan to colonize Mars - at the expense of millions of human lives. Heero had been reminded of how Zero could be used to push one's psyche to the limits. Not that he'd needed a reminder. He had seen enough realistic, violent depictions of his own death - and Relena's - over the past several weeks to keep him from ever dabbling with Zero again.

"And besides," Heero continued, reaching over to tuck back a loose strand of her hair. "I still had access to showers and was given three meals a day. Just like any standard prison." Talon had said he'd wanted Heero "highly functioning" in order to do his bidding. Heero shrugged as Relena continued to gape at him. "I've dealt with worse."

And he would have continued to deal with it, if Relena and Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Sally and Wufei hadn't shown up and bailed him out. He had spent much of his captivity writing malicious code to cripple the Zero System, but every time Talon found out that Heero was messing with the system, the psychopath retaliated.

"You're telling me no one ever beat you, or anything?" Relena's eyes cast a doubtful expression.

Heero again chose to keep his answer vague. "It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Right." Relena sighed, and he knew she didn't quite believe him. "Well, we're not leaving here until you get a clean bill of health. Understand?"

Heero couldn't help but smile at her concern, as he continued to play with her hair, entwining it in his fingers. "You worry too much."

"No." She shook her head adamantly. "You're going to be a father soon, Heero. I need to know you're going to be healthy, and _around._ " The stern look she gave him left no room for argument.

He didn't want to argue, anyway. The truth was, he would do anything for Relena. Especially now, knowing she was carrying his child - _children_ , he corrected himself. He had spent the past few hours processing the reality that she was pregnant, which she had blurted out to him as they were fleeing Talon's exploding base; now, Heero had to wrap his mind around the fact that they were expecting not one, but _two_ babies. It was going to take some getting used to.

Heero hadn't told Relena yet, but part of him suspected that their pregnancy wasn't exactly accidental. Neither of them had been especially careful that passionate night, three months ago; nor the last time they'd come together, the previous April. Heero had to wonder if, deep down, either of them had been hoping for an "accident." They had both wanted to cement their relationship, perhaps in different ways.

No matter how they had gone about it, what was done was done. At long last, Heero thought, he could have Relena to himself.

That is, if no one else continued to interfere.

Heero realized, as he and Relena exited the exam room and made their way back to the waiting room, that he was probably going to have to have words with one of the two men who, during Heero's absence, had made themselves indispensable to Relena.

Only one of them was already married.

It was impossible not to notice the looks Trowa gave Relena when she, Heero and Quatre joined the others on the Preventers shuttle after they escaped Talon's base. The affection the green-eyed Preventer had for Relena was plain as day. Heero would have noticed it, even if Trowa hadn't approached him hours earlier.

Heero had been hard at work in the confines of his cell-like 'office' at Talon Industries, writing a virus that would disable his captor's mobile dolls, and hadn't exactly welcomed the interruption...

* * *

 **Earlier that day**

" _How did you get in here?" Heero asked without lifting his head or turning around. He had heard the near-silent footfalls behind him, and knew they had to belong to Trowa. He was second in stealth only to Duo, when the braided Preventer actually managed to do his job._

" _I shouldn't have to tell you," Trowa said calmly from behind him. "You know infiltration is my specialty."_

" _Uh-huh." Heero threw a sidelong glance at Trowa, continuing to focus on the code he was writing. "Can I help you with something?"_

" _I'm here to help you," Trowa said evenly. Heero looked up, frowning._

" _That's not part of the plan," he glowered._

 _Trowa shrugged. "The plan has changed."_

" _I wasn't notified," Heero said testily._

" _You'll have to take that up with Une." Trowa tipped his head. "I'm here on her orders."_

 _Heero's eyes narrowed. "I don't understand why she would be concerned; she should know I'm handling it."_

 _Trowa matched Heero's steely gaze with one of his own, folding his arms across his chest. "Une's not the only one who's concerned."_

 _Heero understood at once, but still balked at the implication. "Relena…"_

" _She's worried about you."_

" _She shouldn't be." Heero turned his eyes back to his computer. "She's used to these things by now." The keys clacked as his fingers flew over the keyboard. "We have an understanding."_

" _Do you?" Trowa scoffed. His disapproving tone was unmistakable. Heero stopped typing and turned around in his seat._

" _What's it to you?" he growled._

 _Trowa held up both his hands. "Not that it's any of my business, but I think Relena deserves more."_

 _Heero's scowl deepened. "It_ isn't _any of your business," he snarled. "I asked you to look after her. That's all. Sounds to me like you may be taking the assignment too far."_

" _Because I care about her?" Trowa frowned down at him. Heero immediately seized on the remark._

" _You think I don't?" He retorted, blue eyes flashing. "Because I'm here, doing my job? You should get back to doing_ your _job, and stop worrying about what I'm doing." He turned his back again and resumed his furious typing._

" _She doesn't want me," Trowa said flatly. "She wants you."_

 _Heero's hands stopped abruptly for a beat before returning to their task. "She doesn't need me. She has enough to focus on right now."_

" _So what, you're just going to stay here forever?" Trowa's tone was seeped in sarcasm._

" _I'm staying," Heero seethed, "until my mission is complete. But you can tell Relena it won't be much longer."_

" _Tell her yourself," said Trowa. "She's on her way here."_

" _What?" Heero spun around again. His brows knit together. "Why?"_

" _She talked her way into this mission." Trowa shrugged. "Naturally."_

 _Heero cursed and slammed a fist against his desk. "Do you have any idea," he seethed, "how much danger she's putting herself in? Did any of you consider that before allowing this?! Tell Une to call it off." He set fiery eyes on Trowa. "Now."_

" _It's too late for that," said Trowa. "She's with Talon." Heero swore again. "She's been charged with distracting him," Trowa continued. "He's still trying to act above board, so she should be safe, at least for now."_

" _That man can't be trusted," Heero muttered darkly. "I don't care how big of a show he puts on. He could snap at any moment. I warned Une-"_

" _Then we'll have to plan on that," Trowa interjected. "Let's assume he attempts to do the worst, and work from there."_

 _Heero glared at Trowa, knowing he had little choice but to follow along with whatever the new plan was. "Fine," he said finally._

 _Trowa gave him a single nod. "Come with me, then. Quatre's waiting."_

 _Heero sat back in his seat and folded his arms. "I'll listen to your plan," he said evenly, "but I'm not leaving this base."_

 _Trowa frowned. "Heero-" he started, but the other man cut him off._

" _I'll wait here for Relena," Heero said firmly._

" _Duo is with her," said Trowa. "The two of them should be able to handle Talon." Heero shook his head._

" _Talon will just use him as leverage to get to her. You can almost count on it."_

" _Huh." Trowa tapped his chin. "That would alter things slightly. What would you suggest?"_

 _Heero leaned forward in his seat. "I have some ideas…"_

* * *

Heero had ignored his misgivings about Trowa long enough to complete the mission. He'd even looked the other way when, after he and Relena met up with the others, Trowa had pulled her in for a hug. Everyone, save for Heero, was embracing everyone else; other than an unavoidable bear hug from Duo, Heero had managed to make himself scarce.

What he couldn't escape was Trowa's steady gaze from across the shuttle, which was fixed on Relena. And, once again, as Heero and Relena entered the hospital waiting room, all eyes fell on her. Including _his_.

The group of Preventers were fanned out in the waiting room, with Duo, Quatre and Trowa sitting in a row of chairs, and Sally and Wufei standing in a nearby corner. Everyone was drinking coffee from paper cups. Despite their earlier victory, the mood in the room was fraught with tension. As Heero and Relena approached, everyone moved from their spots and encircled the couple.

"Is everything all right?" Quatre wrung his hands together as he looked from Heero to Relena.

"Everything's fine." Relena swung her eyes up to Heero, as if seeking his permission to elaborate. He gave her a nod and she turned back to address the rest of the group. "I… we have some news, though." Relena drew in a breath, and everyone else seemed to be holding theirs. "We're having twins."

The room erupted, everyone talking all at once. Quatre was the first to hug Relena before the others followed.

"What?!"

"Twins?! That's amazing!"

"Congratulations!"

"You're gonna name one after me, right?"

Heero smirked at the last question, which came from none other than Duo. "Don't hold your breath."

"Aw, come on, buddy." Duo slung an arm around Heero's neck. "I know I'm your favorite." Heero threw a plaintive look at Relena, who just smiled.

"We don't know the babies' sex yet," she said, resting her hands on her tiny, twelve-week baby bump. In fact, her stomach was mostly flat. Heero wouldn't have been able to tell she was even pregnant, if she hadn't told him. Relena had insisted to him, when they were waiting for the doctor earlier, that she had gained weight - two whole dress _and_ bra sizes - but he didn't see it. He wondered perhaps if she was exaggerating, but then he would see for himself later, if they ever got to be alone…

"Eh, well, 'Duo' could work either way, since it's a name I made up." The braided man's cheery voice cut into Heero's thoughts and grinned broadly at him and Relena. "That, or 'Maxwell'! Pretty cool name for a girl, actually…"

"Don't get any ideas," Heero said, rolling his eyes at his old friend. "We haven't gotten that far yet."

"Right. This is virgin territory for you." Duo smirked. "Sorry. Bad joke. Especially now…" He chuckled and ran a hand through his braid.

"Duo..." Relena groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. Everyone else tittered, but Trowa slunk away from the group. Heero watched as the taller, green-eyed man started making his way toward the exit.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, anyway. You're joinin' the old married farts club!" Duo bellowed before giving Heero a slap on the back. "Aintcha?"

Heero's eyes narrowed at Duo before returning to track Trowa. He felt Relena following his stare. He turned his head back toward her and gave her a nod.

"I'll be right back," he murmured. Her blue eyes looked troubled. He leaned over and brushed his lips against her cheek.

"Promise?" she said softly into his ear. Heero chuckled before he realized she was serious. He pulled back and grasped her shoulders. She looked up at him in trepidation. Of course, he couldn't blame her, given their recent history; he had promised her he would be back 'soon,' back in October, and wound up being gone for three months. But he knew that wasn't what she was really worried about.

He nodded solemnly, then looked back to where Trowa was headed. The other man had stopped in his tracks and was staring hard at Heero and Relena. Trowa tore his eyes away as soon as Heero looked up. Heero frowned, trying to read Trowa the way the erstwhile circus performer would read one of his beasts. Trowa's stance was rigid as he leaned in the doorway, arms folded in defense, yet there was a slump to one shoulder, his head tilted downward. He refused, now, to meet Heero's eyes. The man wasn't looking for a fight.

Heero broke away from Relena's side and strode toward Trowa, who was forced to look back up. Heero caught his gaze and held it, gesturing at the slightly taller man with a tip of the chin.

"How's the java around here?" Heero asked as he approached him. That did the trick; Trowa cracked a smile.

"Not bad, actually." Trowa looked at Heero evenly before turning his heel and leading the way down the corridor, toward a sign pointing to the hospital cafeteria. Heero fell into step beside him, and the two men walked in silence for a few minutes before reaching the cafeteria. In the corner was a long table with self-serve coffee makers and various pitchers of milk and cream. Heero helped himself to a cup, then went to pour another. Trowa's hand halted him.

"Is that for Relena?"

"Yeah. Why?" Trowa's eyes sparked, and Heero realized. "Oh. Right." He quickly dumped out the coffee and discarded the cup. He had momentarily forgotten that pregnant women weren't supposed to have caffeine. Like Relena. Who was pregnant.

His face flamed as he watched Trowa fill up a cup with hot water and add a tea bag. Chamomile. Heero remembered it was Relena's favorite, and was newly irritated that Trowa knew it, too. Then again, the other man had spent the past three months in close proximity to Relena, as her bodyguard. And nothing got past Trowa; of course, he would notice the kind of tea she always drank.

Heero's annoyance only grew as Trowa brought the tea over to the registers and pulled out his wallet.

"I'll get it," Heero muttered, but Trowa cut him off.

"I'm getting yours, too," he said, and handed his card to the cashier. "Besides," Trowa added, "do you even have a wallet?"

Heero frowned up at him. "I do, actually. Courtesy of Duo." Duo, king of stealth, had apparently pilfered all of the personal items that had been confiscated from Heero during his imprisonment. Even the outdated mobile flip phone Heero had ditched in an obscure, forgotten location upon sneaking into Talon Industries. Heero didn't know how Duo had managed to accomplish such a feat in the limited time he'd spent on the base that day, but as usual, there was no understanding Duo.

Trowa just shrugged. "Well, this one's on me. No big deal."

"Thank you." Heero didn't know what else to say to the other man as they left the cafeteria. Their conversations were often stilted, but now there was a fresh layer of awkwardness, given Trowa's obvious feelings for Relena. Heero wasn't quite sure how to address the elephant in the room, or if he even should. It would be different if he sensed a threat from the other man; then, he'd know exactly what to do. Or, at least, his fist would.

But there was still something Heero felt he had to say.

"Trowa… I owe you an apology," he said slowly.

"Hm?" Trowa glanced down at him. "For what?"

"For reprimanding you for disrupting my mission," Heero said wryly. He hated to admit he'd needed help, but it was the truth. "If you and the others hadn't shown up when you did, I'd still be toiling away." His shoulders sagged briefly before he squared them back. "But now the mission is complete, and I can return to Relena."

"Right." Trowa nodded curtly, keeping his gaze trained ahead as they walked.

Heero tipped his head toward the other man. "I owe you. For taking care of her." That was all he wanted to say on the matter. He didn't want to know how Trowa had come to develop feelings for Relena during his time as her bodyguard, but then Heero could hazard a guess. Not that he could blame Trowa; it could happen to any man around Relena. She was by far the most influential person Heero had ever known and, besides that, she was intelligent, accomplished and beautiful. Her mere presence was intoxicating. It would take a strong, stubborn man to avoid falling under her spell.

Heero had tried to be that man, long ago, but he had failed. Miserably. One glance was all it took. And then a collection of brief touches, over the course of months, which led to one desperate, hasty kiss; then, over time, more kisses, and, eventually, everything else. And after that, nothing and no one could disentangle Heero from the threads that bound him to her.

And now, they were woven together, permanently, by the two lives she was carrying. Heero shook his head to dispel a wave of vertigo that came over him. He still couldn't quite believe what was happening. Their encounter, twelve weeks ago, had been the first one since her birthday in April, and _that_ had been the only such incident in years. According to Relena, they had been on-again, off-again since they were sixteen.

Before they got back together, Relena had entered into a relationship with a wealthy English diplomat, the kind of man, for all intents and purposes, she _should_ be with. But the eighteen-month courtship turned out to be more for publicity than anything else. And, Relena had later admitted, to make Heero jealous.

Over the years, they had fought a lot of battles together, many of them mere matters of the heart. Heero had always been cautious, never quite sure of what, exactly, Relena wanted from him. When she wanted him. He always let her set the pace. And whenever she wanted out, he didn't fight her. Maybe he'd been wrong. Maybe he should have been forthcoming with her. Maybe he could have demanded more. Because the truth was, for Heero, there was no "off" switch for Relena.

He wanted to make sure she knew that. But, then, he had asked her to marry him, just hours ago, and she had readily agreed.

They could get back on track, finally.

"You don't have to thank me." Trowa's low, quiet tones drew Heero's attention back to their conversation. He looked up to see the other man smirking. "I would have stolen her from you, if she had let me."

Heero's eyes widened at the admission, but then he relaxed. "And if she had, I would have deserved it."

Trowa shook his head. "She would never do that to you. Even if you did deserve it." A smirk continued to play on his lips.

"Still," said Heero, "I know if anything had happened to me, you would've been there for her." His mind didn't want to go there, but he knew it was true. And he knew Relena would have needed someone. "And," he added, "if anything ever _does_ happen…"

"Don't tempt me," Trowa interrupted, his green eyes glinting. Heero chuckled.

"Forget I said anything, then."

"Already forgotten." Trowa gave him what appeared to be a genuine smile, for someone as guarded as he was. But, then, that was a trait they had always shared.

Heero took a sip of his coffee, grateful they had gotten that discussion out of the way.

"This is the kind of talk you have over beer, not java," Trowa mused, as if reading Heero's thoughts, acknowledging the awkwardness of their exchange. Heero nodded his agreement.

"Yeah," he said. "Next one's on me."

He knew, though, that 'next time' wouldn't be any time soon. Not with everything else he had to focus on, now. He had responsibilities, and they had just increased - _twofold_ , he mused, as he and Trowa entered the waiting room.

Heero's gaze was immediately drawn to a head of golden blonde hair, bent in conversation with Quatre as they sat in the waiting area. Duo sat on the other side of Relena and was listening with rapt attention, for a change. Sally was in another corner, on her phone, while Wufei was pacing the room, scowling down at his tablet.

Relena lifted her head and shot Heero a heart-stopping smile. He clutched at his chest as he was struck by an acute, pulsating ache. His other hand crumpled his paper coffee cup. He frowned at his sudden weakness. Was it from Relena, or something else?

Trowa was the first to pick up on the change in Heero's demeanor, and gestured toward his coffee cup. "Heartburn?" Wufei, meanwhile, had ceased his pacing and strode over to them, watching Heero closely.

"What's the matter with you?" Heero bristled under the Chinese man's scrutiny.

"It's nothing," he replied, tossing his cup into a nearby trash bin. "Just… strong coffee."

Trowa frowned. "It wasn't that bad…"

"Something's off," Wufei announced. Heero glanced across the room to Relena, hoping she hadn't noticed anything, but she was still chatting breezily with Quatre and Duo.

Trowa's sharp eyes were now assessing Heero as well. "What did Talon do to you, anyway?" Heero met his eyes, but didn't answer. Trowa said nothing more for a beat but eventually nodded. "I see."

"Don't say anything to her," Heero murmured as forcefully as he could without raising his voice. Trowa and Wufei exchanged glances before walking over to the seating area. Heero traipsed behind them, his hand still clenched to his chest. He eased himself into the open seat next to Quatre while Trowa handed Relena to the cup of tea he'd gotten for her. She looked up, smiled and thanked him before turning her attention to Heero.

"Hey," she said softly, reaching a hand out to him. He took her hand but winced, and her smile faltered. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth.

"If you say so." Relena sighed and gave his hand a squeeze. "Well, I filled out your paperwork and checked you in, so someone should be coming for you any minute now."

Heero merely nodded, his mind ticking through the possibilities, based on his symptoms. He knew he'd cracked a rib earlier that day, and that was on top of other injuries he'd sustained over the past several weeks. Broken bones were never enough to stop him in his tracks, though; he was used to pushing through the pain. But this new discomfort was different; he could feel his heart rate climbing and knew his blood pressure must be, as well.

"Heero?"

He looked up as a young woman dressed in scrubs came into the waiting room, looking down at the tablet she held. He willed himself to stand, but Trowa was already there, pulling him up by the elbow. Heero's eyes snapped up at the taller man. He didn't want his assistance but, for Relena's sake, he would refrain from saying so. Heero felt her come up beside him, taking his free hand in hers; his other was still pressed to his chest.

The medical assistant asked how he was doing in a chipper voice. Heero grunted his response.

"He's not feeling well," Relena said to the other woman, her blue eyes clouded with worry.

"Well, you're in the right place," the assistant answered cheerily. Heero glanced back at Trowa.

"We'll be here," the green-eyed Preventer said, tipping his chin toward Heero before turning back toward the seating area.

"I can come back with him, right?" Relena asked the assistant. The other woman looked up from her tablet.

"You're his-?"

"Wife," Relena said softly, her cheeks instantly coloring. Heero knew she didn't like stretching the truth, but if he had his way, it wouldn't be much longer before they made things official. He gripped her hand tightly, as he felt what was left of his strength start to drain.

"Of course," the assistant answered, leading the way down a corridor, to an open exam room similar to the one they had been in earlier for Relena's ultrasound.

In the past, Heero would have insisted Relena stay put, but her determined expression told him his words would fall flat. And now, he was grateful for her support. Relena stuck close by as the assistant listened to Heero's heart and lungs, then took his blood pressure.

"One-eighty over one-ten," she said sternly, frowning at him. "Not good."

Relena clasped both hands in front of her. "What does that mean?" she asked calmly.

The assistant looked from her to Heero, her face impassive. "It means you came in just in time."

Relena's hands flew to cover her mouth, and her eyes flooded. Heero reached up to stroke her cheek. "Relena," he murmured. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

"You're not fine," the assistant snapped. "Sorry," she added to Relena, before looking sharply at Heero. "You're on the brink of a heart attack."

* * *

 _A/N: To those of you who already read_ Red Moon Glow _, I'm sorry for all the backstory. I hope if nothing else, it serves as a brief refresher so you don't have to go back and reread (unless you want to!). And if you're new to this series, welcome! I hope the story makes sense so far!_

 _Some readers, at the end of_ RMG _, requested some closure with Trowa ,since he and Relena did not get to have a conversation after she and Heero were reunited, at least that we got to see. As you can see, Trowa is sticking around for the sequel, so any lingering questions you may have should be answered. Eventually. :)_

 _Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think so far!_

 _Happy #SundayFunday!_

 _\- RFP_


	3. Clearing the Air

The next few hours dragged on, as Heero was ushered from one exam room to the next, nurses prodding and poking him with needles and filling up vials with his blood. He endured a battery of tests, including an EKG, x-ray, MRI and CT scans.

Relena, true to her word, remained close throughout the ordeal, waiting with Heero in the various rooms, and outside of the ones she wasn't allowed to enter. And then, as soon as she was able, she'd return to his side, threading her hand through his. Heero hated that he felt so weak but, for once, allowed her to be strong for him.

"Do you really think it's your heart?" she whispered frantically, once they were alone again in another exam room. Heero liked that she seemed to place more stock in his own assessment of his body, versus whatever the doctors had to say. He met her eyes and answered honestly.

"I don't know. But I doubt it." He suspected that whatever it was, the Zero System was the culprit. The program was more than capable of causing heart attacks, even strokes, but then Heero had experienced - and mastered - Zero before. If what he was going through now had anything to do with Zero, it was a delayed reaction at that.

But Heero had also spent years putting his body through the ringer. He had thrown himself into battle as a youth, not caring if his own life were forfeited. He hadn't planned on living past his teens, let alone into his thirties. He knew he had old injuries that might never fully heal, but he ignored them, knowing that if he paid attention to every ache and pain, he would never get anything done. Perhaps, though, his body was finally catching up to him.

Heero closed his eyes and leaned back against the mound of pillows Relena had stacked behind his head on the hospital bed. She pulled the thin cotton blanket over him before leaning down and pressing a kiss to his forehead. Her touch immediately warmed and soothed him. He reached up to grasp her face.

"I don't want you worrying," he murmured.

"Too late for that." Her eyes glistened. Heero thumbed at her tears as they formed.

"Hey," he whispered, frowning. "Don't do that, honey. We'll get through this. Just like we do everything else."

Relena sniffled and more tears fell.

"You're not listening to me," Heero admonished softly.

"I'm sorry." She lifted her hand to dab at her eyes, and let out a little laugh. "It's not that."

Heero frowned. "What is it, then?"

Relena's eyes sparkled down at him. "You called me 'honey.'" Her face broke into a smile, the first he'd seen in hours. Heero caressed her face, then reached for a strand of her long, golden hair.

"That's what you are," he said, giving her hair a tug. She laughed again.

"Since when does Heero Yuy use pet names?" She arched a brow. "It's so unlike you."

"Since I asked you to marry me, and you said yes." His hand moved from her hair to her face. "You're mine now, so I can say these things."

Relena clasped her hand to his, holding it against her cheek. "I've always been yours."

Heero's eyes sparked, and he grunted a simple, "Hn." _Not always,_ he nearly added. But none of that seemed to matter anymore.

He released her hand and sat up straight, trailing both of his hands to her abdomen. Relena smiled as he gingerly lifted up her blouse and placed both his hands on her belly.

"Can't feel them yet," he murmured.

"No," she said softly. "Not for another four weeks, or so." She sighed deeply. "I can't wait."

Heero gently caressed her skin. "I've missed so much already." He looked up at her through hooded eyes, guilt washing over him. Relena reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Nonsense." She shook her head. "You missed my finding out, and those first few ultrasounds. And a few weeks of relentless morning sickness." She grimaced. "But that's about it. A lot of women don't even learn that they're pregnant until this stage; we've still got a long way to go." There was a twinge of sadness to her smile. "And you're not going to miss any more milestones."

"I won't," he said firmly. "I promise." He didn't know yet what he was dealing with, but he hoped his promise rang true.

"You should go," he added, removing his hands from her abdomen and lying back against his pillows. "Get something to eat."

Relena shook her head firmly. "No, I'm staying here with you."

He frowned at her. "When's the last time you ate something?"

She clasped her hands over her stomach. "Um…"

"Exactly. You're eating for three, now," Heero said pointedly.

"You're right." Relena's eyes clouded. "But I don't want to leave you…"

"I'll be fine. I'll just rest while I wait for the doctor." Heero closed his eyes to emphasize his point. "Go have some dinner. Maxwell will go with you. He's always up for food."

Relena giggled. "That's true. I'll go see if he's still in the waiting area. Want me to bring you back something?"

"No, thanks." Heero kept his eyes closed as a fresh wave of exhaustion threatened to overtake him. "I'm not hungry."

"All right." He was grateful Relena didn't argue. He felt her warm, soft lips against his forehead once more before she departed, and he allowed himself, finally, to give in to sleep.

* * *

Relena entered the waiting room to find only Trowa in the seating area. She frowned and hurried over to him.

"Where is everyone?" she asked before he could say anything to her. He glanced up briefly from his phone.

"Sally and Wufei left to take care of some Preventer business, but they should be back shortly," he said in a flat, businesslike tone. "Duo's somewhere, vid-chatting with Hilde. Quatre said he had some work calls to make."

Relena nodded, thankful for the status report, thinking she ought to check in with her assistant, Elise, and see how she was navigating the press fallout following Talon Van Holt's arrest. He had been involved in Relena's Mars terraformation project… More than involved; he had been a downright bully about trying to push his satellite plans through. Plans that turned out to be deadly.

And if they hadn't managed to stop him, who knew what would have happened… but Relena refused to give into fretting over all that, just then. She had new things to worry about. Like whatever health issues were plaguing her husband-to-be.

And why her close friend and bodyguard, sitting before her, was looking sullenly at his phone.

"What's wrong?" she asked Trowa. He flicked his gaze up to hers, his frown deepening.

"It's nothing."

Relena planted her hands at her hips. "Right… What's really going on?"

Trowa sighed and pocketed his phone. "It can wait. I don't want to add to your stress. Seems like you already have plenty to worry about."

Now it was Relena's turn to frown. And, as usual, Trowa was displaying an uncanny knack for reading her mind. It was as comforting as it was disconcerting.

"Well, can we walk and talk?" she asked him. "I really need to eat something…" She pressed her hands to her mostly-flat belly for emphasis. Trowa's eyes followed her hands, and Relena thought she saw wariness cross his features. But the flicker of emotion left his eyes almost as quickly as it appeared.

"Sure," he said casually, rising from his seat. He moved to stand beside Relena, and she automatically looped her arm through his.

Relena thought nothing of the gesture, at least not right away. She and Trowa had grown close over the past three months, while Heero was… away. Although her feelings for Trowa hadn't gone any deeper than friendship, she had come to rely on him for support. It was only natural; Trowa was always near her. He had become a steady presence in her life, and Relena had grown accustomed to having him around.

They walked side by side to the door separating the waiting room from the hallway that led to the cafeteria. Trowa released Relena's arm only to open the door for her, placing his free hand at the small of her back as she stepped through. The door shut behind them and he resumed his place at her side, taking her arm back in his in a single, fluid motion. Their eyes met only briefly during the exchange, Trowa keeping his gaze trained straight ahead as he led her down the corridor.

And that was Trowa; ever the gentleman. It was hard to imagine him ever doing anything untoward.

 _Even if…_ Relena's throat tightened. Even if, as Heero said, Trowa was in love with her.

As they walked in silence, Relena's mind flicked over the past three months. Trowa had always been kind and respectful toward her; that was nothing new. And he was attentive, in his quiet, calming way. He had quite a soothing presence, something she had appreciated as her personal and work life took a turn for the hectic. She often found herself looking forward to their quiet rides back to her apartment after work. Then Trowa would come up and conduct a series of security checks before leaving her for the night. That was their near-daily routine, Trowa and Duo trading off bodyguard duties, for months. And when Duo was on-duty, as much as Relena enjoyed her time with him, she found herself missing Trowa, simply because he was quieter than Duo. And sometimes, especially after a long, demanding day at work, Relena just needed to have the space to hear her own thoughts.

Trowa gave her that, and more. When he did speak with her, his comments were always insightful. As if he spent so much time in silent observance, whatever he chose to share displayed a shrewd understanding of what was really going on beneath the surface.

Relena shouldn't have been surprised, then, when Trowa figured out she was pregnant before anyone else, aside from Hilde.

There had been a shift in their relationship then, although Relena still wasn't sure what, exactly, had changed between them. If anything. Perhaps she was imagining the way he looked at her and overanalyzing what it might mean; perhaps now her memories of Trowa were tainted by Heero's assessment.

" _He's in love with you. It's my fault for asking him to look after you so… thoroughly."_

Relena shook her head to dispel the thought as she and Trowa entered the cafeteria together. Even if there was more to Trowa's feelings for her than his sense of duty, he hadn't made it known to Relena.

And things needed to stay that way.

"What are you in the mood for?" Trowa's low voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Hmm?" Relena glanced up at him, her face immediately coloring. Could he _actually_ read her mind? Suddenly she felt ashamed and guilty for allowing these errant thoughts to play out while she was with him. But Trowa's face was a mask as he gazed down at her, still holding her arm in his.

"What are you craving?" he asked, his features relaxing into a smile. Relena could feel her face burning.

"I… um…" She cast her eyes about the room, suddenly desperate to look away from him. _Damn it, Trowa…_ Why did things have to go and get awkward?

Her eyes settled on the salad bar. "Salad sounds good," she said numbly.

"I'll have the same," said Trowa. Relena nodded and led the way to the way to the self-service counter. She was actually craving a burger, but making a salad gave her something to do with her hands. Besides holding onto Trowa.

 _I should probably stop touching him,_ she thought to herself. _Like, ever…_ Even if the only times they had ever touched had been purely innocent; there had never been more than the occasional pat on the hand or shoulder. Except when they'd danced together at the ESUN ball. Relena had also danced with Duo that night, and she usually danced with any diplomat or dignitary that asked.

But she realized with a start that it was different with Trowa. She briefly recalled his leaning down to whisper something in her ear as they danced, his lips closer to her skin than they'd ever been. Relena hadn't thought much of it at the time, because her thoughts were elsewhere, worrying about Heero. But now that he had been recovered, and she was back in Trowa's presence, Relena was forced to confront reality.

Now, she was hyper-aware of Trowa's every movement. He was so unassuming and accommodating, always letting her go first in whatever they were doing - in this case fumbling with the salad tongs - offering gentle assistance when needed - intervening when the bottle of salad dressing Relena had chosen was nearly empty, giving it a mighty squeeze to get the last of the liquid out for her. Now, his every gesture made Relena blush to her hairline.

 _Why why why?!_ Her mind screamed. _Why is he being so nice to me?!_

Sure, the other pilots were also nice to her. Most of them, anyway. Relena considered all of them to be her friends. Heero was the only one who had ever caused her to come unglued, but then they had been circling one another for what felt like forever.

She had never spent so much uninterrupted time with anyone else. Not even other men she'd dated, when she and Heero were in the "off-again" phase of their relationship.

And, she realized with another wave of shock, she had never spent the night with anyone, except Heero.

 _And_ Trowa.

Of course, she and Trowa hadn't _slept_ together. They hadn't even touched each other. But they had fallen asleep _near_ each other - in the same room, at least. Trowa had let Relena stay in his hotel room in Brussels after the ESUN ball, the night before they all left for space to rescue Heero. They had been up most of the night strategizing with Duo, and by the time Relena had collapsed into the hotel bed, she was barely conscious of anything. Trowa wasn't even there when she awoke in the morning, having left in the night to head to space ahead of everyone else. For all Relena knew, he didn't stay long enough in the room to fall asleep on the couch. But then… the incident took on a whole new meaning when Relena realized that Trowa might have been fighting his feelings for her in the dark. The thought added another layer of awkwardness to the situation.

 _Oh, God…_ Relena was dismayed as she trudged behind Trowa, carrying her salad to the checkout counter. _What have I done?_

Had she somehow led him on?

They found an empty table and sat down across from one another, each setting their trays before them. Trowa wasted no time digging into his meal, but Relena found herself pushing her bowl of dressing-soaked raw vegetables around with her plastic fork. Suddenly her appetite was gone, but she knew she would have to take a bite eventually or Trowa would notice and say something.

Because Trowa noticed everything.

Sure enough, Relena raised her eyes to see that Trowa was watching her closely. She flushed and nearly dropped her fork.

"What's wrong," Trowa asked automatically. "You seem anxious."

"Of course I am," Relena said quickly. "I'm worried about Heero."

Trowa's eyes held hers for a beat before he spoke again. "I'm sure he's just fine."

Heat fanned Relena's cheeks, but now she was more annoyed than embarrassed. "How can you say that?"

"Because I know Heero," Trowa said as he speared a cherry tomato with his fork. "I've seen him overcome much worse. My sister did nurse him back to health after he self-detonated, you'll remember. Just before you and I… crossed paths." He paused to take a bite of his food. "Anyway. Compared to that, this is nothing."

Relena pushed back against her chair, crossing her arms tightly in front of her. "Trowa Barton, that's an awfully calloused way to talk about your long-time friend," she said coolly.

Trowa continued to regard her without changing his neutral expression. "Why are you angry?" he asked calmly.

"Because you don't care what happens to Heero, do you?" Relena had to work to keep her voice down as her temper rose inside of her.

Trowa's impassive facade cracked, and he frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you're in love with me, aren't you!" Relena blurted, then froze as she realized the words had made their way out. Her hand flew to her mouth.

Trowa said nothing at first, staring steadily at her. But his silence spoke volumes.

He didn't deny it.

Relena's eyes filled.

Minutes seemed to tick by as neither of them spoke. She was painfully aware of Trowa's eyes boring into hers, two blazing emeralds.

"We shouldn't talk here," he said, finally, keeping his voice low. He gestured toward Relena's salad bowl. "Why don't you try to finish eating." It was more of an order than a suggestion.

She cleared her throat, which was dry and raspy. "I'm not hungry," she said weakly.

"You may not be," Trowa said softly. "But they are."

"Right," Relena whispered, her throat still tight. _They._ She'd forgotten, just for a moment, that there was a "they," now. She was still getting used to the idea of having one baby. And now another revelation was competing for her attention.

 _He_ is _in love with me. Heero was right._

She jammed her fork back into her salad and did her best to swallow each bite that she took. She couldn't help but feel as if she'd been dealt a low blow. On what should have been the happiest day of her life, so far - Heero had returned to her; Heero had proposed; they found out they were having twins! - she also had to grapple with Heero's hospitalization and unknown illness.

And, now… this.

Relena felt as if a great weight had been strapped to her shoulders.

She tried to focus on her dinner, thinking about getting the proper nutrition to the babies growing inside of her. She was glad she'd added some chicken to her salad for protein. But for all she knew, she could have been eating a bowl of sand.

They finished the rest of the meal in total silence, which made the cacophony of idle chitchat and clanging plates and trays and chairs scraping across the cafeteria floor all the more deafening. Relena didn't look up from her bowl until it was empty, afraid to meet Trowa's eyes. But sure enough, he had also finished his food and was watching her. Waiting.

"Ready?" he asked simply, as if nothing had changed between them. But in Relena's mind, everything had. Tension crackled in the air around them as they rose from their seats.

Trowa had all but confirmed Relena's suspicions, without saying a word. He may have been stoic, but if her accusation _wasn't_ true, he would have said so.

Relena walked several steps ahead of Trowa as they exited the bustling cafeteria, back into the hallway that would take them back to the waiting room. She tried to hurry back there, back to Heero, hoping they could avoid further discussion of this… matter… for as long as possible. For forever, even.

But Trowa clearly had other ideas. Relena could hear his footfalls come closer, until he was right behind her. And then she felt his large hand close around her elbow.

"This way," he murmured into her ear, steering her to the right, toward a different corridor. Relena balked.

"What do you want?" she snapped, with a little too much force. She wrenched her arm out of his grasp, instantly regretting her sharp tone. They were still friends, right?

She turned her head around slowly to look up at him. He had arched backward, never one to force anyone to do anything. In fact, Relena thought he looked downright sheepish.

"I'm sorry," Trowa started, "if I upset you, or-"

"It's fine," Relena sighed, praying they could drop the matter. "You don't have to apologize. For anything," she added.

Trowa nodded once, then cocked his head to the side, regarding her closely. Those deep green eyes of his had an unnerving way of sifting her to the core. Much like those of someone else she knew, and loved.

"I think we should talk," he said.

Relena drew in a shaky breath. "Why?" she asked, clutching both of her hands to her chest. As if that would shield her from whatever was coming next. "What good could possibly come of that?"

Trowa had stuffed both of his hands in the pockets of his Preventers jacket. "I just want to clear the air," he said simply. "Then I'll go."

Relena arched a brow. "Where are you going?"

"I was messaging with Une earlier." Trowa tipped his chin toward the waiting area. "I let her know that I was ready to terminate this assignment. She gave me clearance to leave at any time."

Relena's face collapsed. She didn't realize how his departure would make her feel. "But…" She paused and licked her lips, wondering _why why why_ she would even begin to protest his decision. What did she care if he stayed or not?

What was wrong with her?

"What?" Trowa prodded her. "Is that a… problem?" Relena forced herself to meet his eyes and was taken aback by his bemused expression. "You don't think I should?"

"No, I…" Relena fumbled for words. "I think you should do whatever you think is best." She licked her lips again, distracted by how dry her mouth and throat felt, still. It had to be the stilted hospital air. And they were in a colony, after all…

Trowa chanced a step toward her, and Relena automatically took one back. He stopped where he stood, his expression glum.

"You don't want me to go."

Relena felt a fluttering against her ribcage. It couldn't be her babies kicking - not yet - so it had to be nausea. Or something else.

"No, I do," she said softly, her eyes locked on his. "I think you should go. Right now."

His gaze held hers ransom for what seemed like a full minute, in which neither of them moved.

"Or," Trowa said at last, "we could talk about this."

Relena's heart thrummed loudly in her ears.

"No," she said firmly, shaking her head from side to side. "There's nothing to talk about."

"So you'd rather pretend our earlier discussion never happened?" Trowa's eyes narrowed. "Is that it?"

"We never discussed anything," Relena snapped.

Trowa took another step forward, eyes blazing. "You said it," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers. "Not me."

Relena swallowed, as if she could choke down the nerves that erupted in her belly, or fight back the tears blurring her vision.

"I shouldn't have said it." Her voice came out in a harsh whisper. "I didn't know what else to say."

Somehow Trowa was standing even closer, now. Relena hadn't even realized he had moved again, but there he was, mere inches away, staring down at her with the most earnest expression she had ever seen cross his face. She half-expected him to lift a hand and wipe her tears away; she had been the recipient of similar gestures of his over the past few months, although she hadn't attached much meaning to them at the time. Not even when he held her hair back when she was in the throes of morning sickness. He was being her caretaker, her friend. He was doing what Heero would have done, had he been there.

Heero _should_ have been there. Those moments, early in her pregnancy, were _their_ moments. It was a fresh slap in the face to realize she'd shared those moments with someone else.

Then there was that night in Relena's apartment, months ago, when Trowa was bringing her home… an awkward exchange had filled the room with tension. She had whirled away from Trowa, only to turn and find him right behind her, unnervingly close. Her throat turned to paper and she made an idle comment about the dryness of the room. What was that, and why did it keep happening around him? What effect was he having on her?

Relena wondered if Trowa had noticed in the moment that something was off, and if he noticed now. But of course he did, because this was _Trowa_.

She tried to think of something to say to end the conversation, when all she wanted to do was bolt in the other direction.

Not that her bodyguard would let her get very far.

An involuntary shiver spider-walked down Relena's spine as she wondered what he might do when he caught her.

But she couldn't run; not without causing a scene. The hallway was beginning to fill with people, coming and going from the cafeteria. Panic gripped her. What if someone saw them? Someone who would recognize her? Or, worse, one of their friends? What would they think? What did it _look_ like they were doing, standing there, so close to one another?

Relena watched Trowa's face as he glanced around them furtively. Once again, he gestured toward the other corridor, which was empty of any pedestrian traffic.

Slowly, she nodded. Trowa's features appeared to relax. He offered her a smile before turning and striding down the other hallway. Relena hesitated, but was becoming more anxious about the growing number of passersby. Why she was suddenly so afraid of being seen, she didn't know; it was as if, in that moment, she had abandoned all reason. All she knew was that she wouldn't be able to think clearly until she'd at least heard whatever it was Trowa had to say.

Even if it was something she couldn't - shouldn't - bear to hear.

Relena worked to steel her nerves as she took one more look around, then scurried after Trowa.

* * *

 _A/N: Dear reader(s) who complained the 3xR subplot was a 'red herring' in RMG and wasn't enough to substantiate an actual love triangle..._

 _HAHAHAHAHA ;)_

 _No, really though. Buckle. Up._

 _\- RFP_


	4. Fools Rush In

**October 3, A.C. 212**

 **Early hours**

 **L1 Colony**

Heero crept through the cool darkness of Relena's bedroom, careful not to wake her as she slept. He went back over to the side of the bed she was still curled up on, right where he'd left her. He had just spoken to Une, and then Duo and, finally, Trowa. His mission was accepted, his flight was confirmed, and everything else was in place.

It was time to go.

Relena appeared to be in a deep, languid sleep, with both of her hands under her pillow, clutching it tightly beneath her head. She always slept heavily after a night of, well, heavy drinking - they had polished off two bottles of wine together - and, of course, every else that followed. Heero couldn't help but smirk; he couldn't help but be pleased with how the night had turned out. Especially since he hadn't planned it. Lately, anytime he and Relena fell in bed together, it was a happy accident, at least in his mind.

It had only been about six months since their last encounter; they had gone longer without sex before. But he knew, and he was sure she did, too, no matter how many times they parted ways, it was only a matter of time before they both gave into temptation once more. And it was never just _once_ more, either.

How easy, how stupidly easy, it was to fall back into one another's orbits. Heero wondered if there was actually any possibility of escape, or if he was just forever trapped in Relena's gravity.

She was still naked, as he had been when they fell asleep. Even in the darkness, Heero could make out her form in the soft glow of streetlights that streamed through her blinds. There was no moonlight on the colonies, a fact that always made Heero miss Earth. But still, Relena looked beautiful in the artificial light that illuminated her, outlining the curves of the figure he'd long had memorized, weaving strands of silver through her blond hair. It was difficult to look away as her chest rose and fell along with her soft, steady breathing. Heero allowed himself a moment, just a moment, to watch her sleep before reaching for her duvet and gently pulling it up to her chin. He knew if he kissed her goodbye, the motion would wake her; so instead of her lips, he feathered a light kiss to her brow.

As he left her apartment, triple-checking that the security settings he'd implemented were exactly as he'd left them, her words from earlier in the night came floating back to him.

The words that had prompted their encounter.

" _If you had asked me, I would have said yes."_

" _What?"_

" _What else is there to say? I'm going to bed…"_

" _If I had asked you what?"_

" _To marry you."_

" _Why?"_

" _Because I love you. I always have. That hasn't changed."_

The words wouldn't leave his mind as he exited the apartment complex garage in his Preventers-issued SUV, en route to the closest spaceport.

" _I love you… That hasn't changed."_

Heero felt a buzz crawl down his back each time he imagined those pink lips of hers parting, saying one world-upending thing after the next.

" _If you had asked me, I would have said yes."_

 _Why?!_ His mind screamed at him. He gripped the steering wheel as he drove.

He felt like an utter fool.

How was someone like him supposed to give someone like _her_ what she wanted?

" _Relena… You know I've dedicated my life to protecting you. It's the only thing I can give you. But I want you to be happy."_

" _Then make me happy."_

Was it really that simple, though?

Heero let out a low sigh as he drove. He did know how to make her happy; at least, according to what she'd told him she wanted. But they had had this conversation in the past, and it had always ended badly. Not like this time… which was at least partially due to all the alcohol. And sex.

Did that mean he'd technically agreed? Would she be expecting a ring next? He frowned to himself, not even knowing where to begin. But they were in their thirties now, and Heero realized he couldn't avoid the conversation forever. As long as they were together, it would keep coming up, and the longer he delayed, the more anxious Relena would become.

Until she would drop him again, inevitably, and Heero would regret his stupidity and grouse over having to see her trying to move on with someone new.

The pressure was building inside of him, but he had the sense that this time, it was now or never.

Relena deserved the best. He wasn't sure that was him; and, yet, she wanted him. She had made that abundantly clear.

And he couldn't lose her. Not again.

Just before Heero reached the spaceport, he placed one more call.

"Trowa," he said when his friend and fellow Preventer picked up on the other end. "I need you to do me a favor while I'm gone…"

* * *

 **January 1, A.C. 213 (Present day)**

 **Late night**

 **ESUN hospital, L3 Colony**

Heero's dreams were a troubled place. His subconscious tumbled in and out of battles both real and imagined. Times he'd survived death; times he almost didn't. Hefting a semi-automatic with a broken arm, wincing every time his finger squeezed the trigger as he shot his way out of an OZ base; staggering to his feet after his body had slammed into jagged rocks, tearing his clothes, his skin, bones shattering as he made his rough descent from the window of a high rise; the force of a blast, propelling him out of his mobile suit, slamming him onto the hard, unforgiving ground, feeling something forever break inside of him as blood pooled around his head; pain searing his entire body like a shockwave before, at last, everything in and around him went completely still.

And, then, _her_ voice, stretching across time and space, the light and the sound of it, like a beacon, guiding him back each and every time.

 _HEERO!_

He bolted upright, chest heaving, his eyes searching the room wildly.

Pale yellow fluorescent lights buzzed above him in the all-white, unremarkable space. He remembered now.

His chest was hurting again - throbbing - and he felt the urge to vomit. He reached for nearby pan, but instead of retching, launched into a coughing fit that resulted in him spitting out a startling amount of thick mucus, along with clumps of blood.

 _What's wrong with me?_ He thought the answer would be obvious by now, but Heero had had far too many injuries over the years to bother keeping track. He was sure the beatings he'd endured during his recent capture hadn't helped…

But did Zero have anything to do with it? That was one question no doctor would be able to answer.

Heero wondered idly where Relena was, and how long he'd been out, when someone rapped on the door.

* * *

Relena climbed the final set of stairs behind Trowa, pausing when they came to a steel doorway marked with a red exit sign. She had lost count of how many steps they had gone up, and had stopped a few times to protest, but Trowa insisted they press on to the roof; the stairwell wouldn't afford them enough privacy.

Obviously whatever Trowa was planning to say was something he didn't want to risk having anyone overhear. The thought only made Relena more and more nervous. She was already starting to regret following him as they made their way through the exit door and onto the rooftop.

Relena could see the curve of the colony above them as Trowa ambled over to the roof's ledge, which was only a little higher than his ankles. He craned forward and glanced down briefly before turning back to look at Relena. The vacant sadness in his eyes pierced her heart.

 _Oh, dear…_ Suddenly, she didn't like the look of him, standing so close to the edge. _Trowa's not depressed, is he?_

Cautiously, she approached him, stopping just a few feet before him, gathering up all her courage.

She knew what he was about to say. And what she would have to say in return. She only hoped they could move on from there, with minimal drama. And then she could get back to Heero…

Relena's heart leapt into her throat when, suddenly, Trowa stepped up onto the ledge.

"Trowa!" she shrieked.

"Yes?" He turned back around and looked blankly at her.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, taking several harried steps forward. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Trowa's one visible eye widened as he stared back at her. Then a smile broke over his face, and he laughed.

"Relena," he chuckled. "Have you forgotten about my other vocation?" He reached into his jacket pocket and flicked something into the air, but Relena couldn't make out what it was. Then, to her horror, he sprang into action, turning a somersault and disappearing over the ledge.

" _TROWA!"_

Relena raced to the side of the building, falling to her knees at the ledge. She braced both hands in front of her and dared to look down.

Trowa was hurtling downward at a terrifying speed. Until he twisted his body and angled his arms forward, grabbing the ledge of a window a few stories below. He pushed off of the window and flipped backward, and did the same thing with the next window above him, until he was turning back handsprings in mid-air, using each window ledge to propel him back up. Finally, his hands grasped the roof ledge, right in front of Relena. Trowa cartwheeled his way across the ledge before leaping up once again, turning an impressive backflip before he finally landed on his feet, a few feet above Relena's head, on something invisible.

 _His tightrope. Of course._

Trowa dismounted in another somersault before dropping down beside Relena. He ended his impromptu performance with a sweeping bow.

Relena spun away from him angrily.

"That wasn't funny," she spat, crossing her arms in front of her. "And at a time like this…"

"Sorry," Trowa said from behind her, although to her, he didn't sound one bit sorry. "I thought perhaps it would make you smile, or at the very least lighten the mood…"

"Trowa!" Relena whirled back around to face him. "What were you thinking?! Did you honestly bring me up here because you have something to tell me, or is all of this just some game to you?!"

"I'm sorry," he said again, taking a step toward her. "I really didn't mean-"

"You have one minute," Relena interrupted him, holding a hand out in front of her. "Just one." She cast her most serious expression on him, the one she saved for board rooms and battlefields. "Tell me whatever it is you were going to say. Then I _have_ to go."

She watched as an unreadable expression crossed over Trowa's face, then vanished. He reminded her of Heero in that way; in many ways, actually. Both were masters of masking their feelings, but Trowa was even better at staying calm in all scenarios. Relena couldn't think of a time she'd seen him lose his cool; unlike Heero who, every now and then, allowed his temper to get the better of him. Relena didn't even mind the occasional outburst from Heero; at least it meant he was passionate about things. Trowa, however, was so calm, it was sometimes eerie.

And now, he stood impossibly still and silent, regarding Relena sadly, failing to speak.

"Time's almost up," she warned, tapping her foot for emphasis.

"It's difficult," he said quietly, his eyes glimmering.

"Try me," Relena retorted.

"I wish." Trowa's lips curved into a thin smile as Relena gasped.

" _Trowa!"_

His obvious flirtation immediately set her on edge. In an involuntary motion, Relena lifted a hand to strike Trowa across the face. She was even more shocked than he was when the slap landed with a sharp, stinging sound. He didn't even recoil at the blow, but grabbed Relena's hand in his.

She gasped and closed the distance between them, bringing her other hand up to his face, which was beet red from the hit.

"Why did you let me do that?!" she shrieked.

Trowa shrugged as Relena examined him, which she had to get on tiptoe to do. "Perhaps I thought I deserved it," he said evenly.

"Why?" Relena frowned up at him.

Trowa's visible eye flickered.

"For this."

Relena realized too late that her hands were already holding the sides of his face, and it was far too easy for Trowa to bend his head and press his lips to hers.

Her eyes widened and she stumbled backward, sliding her hands down to Trowa's chest and giving him a mighty shove.

Trowa released her and straightened himself.

"Careful," he said, motioning to the drop behind him. "That could have been deadly."

Relena's temper flared inside her. "You're lucky I didn't push you harder," she spat. "Why did you do that?!" Her hands balled into fists at her sides. "What possessed you to even _think_ that would be okay?!"

"The way you looked at me," Trowa said calmly. "For one thing."

"For _one_ thing?!"

"Among other things," he added, stepping forward again, back into her space. "There have been plenty of instances, over the past few months, where something could have happened. I just… held back."

"Oh, did you?!" Relena cried, stepping back from him again. "How chivalrous of you…"

"Relena…" He stretched a hand out toward her. "You know what I mean…" He frowned. "I thought that's why you agreed to go somewhere and talk…"

Relena shook her head firmly. "Trowa, you're imagining things… I only wanted to talk because _you_ said you wanted to clear the air; I thought I should hear you out. But-but this…" She swept her arms, motioning vaguely around them. "It's like you were jumping at the chance to do something, once we were alone!" Relena's face screwed up in anger. "How _dare_ you…"

Trowa maintained his calm exterior, merely shaking his head to the side. "You misunderstand me, Relena. I may be a clown, but I'm no fool." He smiled sadly at her. "Maybe I was pretending, for just a moment, that you returned my feelings. I thought…" He trailed off and turned his head to the side, chuckling lightly. "No, I knew better. I knew once Heero returned, that would be that, and you'd forget all about whatever was between us…"

"Trowa," Relena said sternly, "there was nothing between us. We were _friends_ ; that's all."

"Don't do this," he murmured, reaching for her again. "It may be ill-fated, but the connection we share-"

"The connection?!" Relena cut him off, indignant. "Trowa, I'm getting _married_! To Heero! And I'm having his babies!" Her chest was beginning to hurt from the emotional effort it took to yell at him. "Why can't you see? There _is_ no 'us.'"

Trowa nodded slowly. "Right. But there might have been. If Heero hadn't returned."

Relena shook her head in disbelief. "And you knew how unlikely it was. You said it yourself; he will _always_ return to me. You know Heero." Relena sighed. "Trowa, I may have… relied on you, when I was lonely. I enjoyed our talks. And you were… pleasant to be around." She could see that his neutral facade had cracked, and her words were hurting him. He merely nodded again, his eyes downcast and hollow.

She bit her lower lip to keep from crying, and worked to control the shakiness in her voice. "But that's all it was, Trowa. I needed a friend, and you were there for me. I appreciate that, I really do." She laid a hand on his arm, as if the gesture could ease the blow. "But, believe me, it was never my intention to lead you on. And if I did, I'm truly sorry." Her voice broke, and she stepped away. "I love Heero, more than anything in this world."

"I know," Trowa said quietly, keeping his face turned to the side. "I just… I thought you might consider me as well. If you knew how I felt."

Relena began to shake her head, but Trowa continued. "I love you, Relena. I have… for some time."

She shook her head more wildly, blinking back tears. "No…"

"It's true." Slowly, he raised his eyes to look at her. "I feel just as strongly for you as Heero does. I wouldn't hesitate to give my life for you. And he knows that." Trowa's face darkened. "And that's why he chose me to look after you."

"No," Relena whispered in disbelief. "Heero wouldn't do something like that. Put us in that sort of position…"

Trowa shook his head and smiled sadly. "We talked about it once. Remember?"

Relena shook her head again, but then the conversation came rushing back to her.

 _He had it all planned._

 _Fear like a long, sharp icicle stabbed her heart._

 _What else did Heero have planned? How long was he going to be away?_

" _Trowa…" Her voice quivered as her throat went dry. "He… Heero's coming back. He is. Isn't he?"_

 _Trowa took another step toward her, hand outstretched. "Relena…"_

"Y-you're saying he wasn't planning to come back?" Relena whispered, her back to Trowa. "I don't believe you. There's no way he…" She blinked back another wave of tears. "He asked me to marry him…"

"After how long?" Trowa asked from behind her.

Relena didn't answer. It wasn't Trowa's business, and it _had_ taken Heero a while, but still. Even if he hadn't asked her, yet, it wouldn't have changed the way Relena felt about him; that was all that mattered.

"Relena…" She froze when she felt Trowa's hand rest on her shoulder. "I wasn't going to tell you this, but I think you deserve to know…"

"Tell me what?" She whirled back around to face him, severing their contact. His face was tight.

"Heero…" he said slowly, "was in contact with Une the entire time he was gone."

Relena's heart began to race. "Wait… what?"

Trowa nodded once. "She kept a lot of the mission from us, until toward the end, when things began to unravel. The truth is, Heero was in over his head, but he was reluctant to accept any of our help." Trowa gave a dismissive shrug, and Relena knew what that was supposed to mean. _Typical Heero._

"Anyway," Trowa continued, "I'm telling you this because I know you reached out to Une to find out Heero's whereabouts, and querying her didn't get you anywhere. Until last night, when you pretended to already know where he was, and tricked Une into confirming his location." Trowa's expression eased into a smile. "An impressive tactic, by the way-"

"Trowa," Relena warned, her voice a harsh whisper. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because, as I said, you deserve to know."

Relena went quiet for a moment, weighing his words. Of course, she should have known that Une knew where Heero was all along, but couldn't tell Relena. She could forgive Une for keeping that from her - she had forgiven Une of worse, after all - in the name of security. After all, with everything Heero had endured during his three-month captivity, relaying the wrong information to the wrong source could have cost him everything.

Including his life.

But what Trowa was implying...

"Are you suggesting Heero received Une's messages from me, and chose not to respond?"

Trowa nodded again, just as Relena shook her head vehemently.

"You're lying."

"Why would I lie?"

"Because you want me to doubt Heero," Relena said shakily. "Well, it's not going to work. I trust him; I always have."

"Always?" Trowa arched a brow. "Is that why you broke up with him so many times?"

"That's none of your business!" she cried.

Trowa shrugged. "You can ask him yourself. All I know is that, when I first found him at the base this morning, he indicated that he was very much aware you had been trying to reach him for some time. And he was content to continue working, uninterrupted. He said you would understand." Trowa shook his head sadly. "I don't understand how-"

"No, you _don't_ understand." Relena held up a hand to stop his words. "But I do." Her heart fluttered. "I understand him better than anyone."

Of _course_ Heero would say those things; it was textbook Heero Yuy. Relena wasn't surprised in the least. In some ways, she knew Heero - _her_ Heero - would never change.

But something had changed between them, in the past twenty-four hours. Relena had felt it the moment her eyes had locked with Heero's, once they'd finally found each other again. She had seen the blazing anger there - he was always angry, especially when she managed to work her way into dangerous situations, the type he worked so hard to shield her from. But there was something more there, too; that fierce protectiveness that burned within him. His eyes were fury and fire, and that formidable look of his only told Relena one thing: he would go the ends of the earth, claw his way through hell itself, to protect her, and nothing and no one would stand in his way.

Whether he'd gotten Une's messages, months ago, or not… It was irrelevant in that moment; everything that had come before it was.

Relena dabbed at the last of her tears and managed to give Trowa a small smile.

"I have to go." She only briefly registered his shellshocked expression before she turned her heel and ran back toward the exit door.

"Relena, wait-"

* * *

The doctor's voice sounded far away to Heero as the older man rattled off a list of possible issues. Heero forced himself to stay awake and focus.

" _The chest x-ray was normal, however the MRI showed a large clot in the lungs. Meanwhile the blood work revealed elevated levels of BNP and troponin."_

Heero was working to mentally translate the medical terms, but he was more tired than he'd realized.

" _These are all indicative of a pulmonary embolism. I suggest we operate immediately."_

Heero nodded weakly. "Yeah. Sure."

" _My medical assistant will be in shortly to prep you for surgery, although we don't have long..."_

Heero forced his eyes open, and saw that the doctor appeared to be rather nervous, although he was clearly trying to look otherwise.

"So… I'm going to have to sign a waiver, right?" Heero joked without a trace of humor. The doctor's face went white.

"Ah, I mean…" He paused to push his glasses up the bridge of his own. "That's just standard operating procedure. There's nothing to worry about it. We caught this relatively early on, but…"

Heero nodded. "I see. Just do me a favor and wait till my wife comes back before you wheel me out of here…"

The doctor frowned. "Where is she? Is she in the building?"

Heero nodded again. "Yeah. She was just here."

The other man glanced at his wristwatch. "I'm afraid we can't put this off." He grimaced before heading for the door. "The anesthesiologist is also on his way. And yes, he has his own waiver for you to sign…"

Heero rolled his eyes. "I get it; I've been out before."

"Right." The doctor nodded tersely before he all but bolted from the room. "See you in the OR, then…"

Heero had to wonder, as the man scampered away, if that was his own version of a joke.

He leaned back against his pillows and closed his eyes, trying to will the nausea, and the pain that kept squeezing his chest, away. An embolism was serious - deadly, even - but it could have been something worse. He wondered what might have caused it, apart from spending several weeks confined to a small room, unable to complete his usual exercises. Still, it wasn't as if he hadn't been able to move around at all. He wondered if that would have been enough to impair him.

He couldn't shake the idea that something had gone wrong with Zero, although he continued to second-guess himself. _Now I sound paranoid…_

He heard the door to his room open and looked up, expecting to see Relena. He frowned when he saw a middle-aged woman instead, and realized she must have been the doctor's assistant. She looked taken aback when she saw him, and Heero realized his scowl probably wasn't helping. He worked to relax his features as she proceeded to repeat much of what the doctor had already said.

Heero wasn't that worried about the surgery. In the scheme of things, well, he could be dead already. He knew this would soon be taken care of, and he could go back to normal. But for some reason, he was anxious to see Relena before they put him under; if nothing else, to reassure her that he was going to be fine.

He looked at the clock on the wall behind the medical assistant's head, and tried to remember when Relena had left for dinner, before he'd dozed off. He knew it had to have been an hour ago, at least. For a brief moment, his heart faltered.

 _Relena, where are you?_

* * *

 _A/N: Happy Sunday Funday! I hope you and yours are enjoying a relaxing weekend :) I finished this chapter last night so I wanted to share immediately, rather than making you guys wait while I update my other fics (although I am working on those, too, no worries!). As always, I am merely following where the muse takes me, and I have a feeling this one is going to get wild... Thanks for all of the positive feedback so far!_

 _Hugs!_

 _\- RFP_


	5. Going Under

**January 1, A.C. 213**

 **Late night**

 **ESUN hospital, L3**

Trowa waited until Relena was out of sight before pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket and scrolling through a list of missed calls and text messages. Mostly from the same source, save for a few from Quatre, and one from Duo asking where the hell everyone went? Trowa ignored those and selected the most recent call on his log.

She answered on the first ring.

"Well?" She sounded expectant as always, but the question was as cryptic as her series of texts.

"Well, what?" Trowa sighed impatiently. He was in no mood to play guessing games and wanted to cut straight to the point. Especially since they were using a deeply encrypted line and could speak more freely. Never mind that he had all the privacy in the world on top of the hospital roof…

"Agent Bloom," Une said coolly on her end, employing the seldom-used codename that happened to be Trowa's real surname. "You will address me properly when you report to me."

Trowa's eyes went upward. "Yes, Commander. My apologies."

"So," Une continued without missing a beat, "you're still at the hospital, then?"

"Affirmative."

"And how is Heero?"

"I don't know," Trowa answered honestly. "Relena is worried, though. She said he's had several tests."

Une clucked her tongue. "That sounds serious."

"Could be," Trowa said impassively.

"You're not concerned," the Preventers commander observed.

"I don't know that there's a valid reason for concern," Trowa said calmly. "We don't have enough information."

"You think this has to do with the prototype?"

Trowa paused, gathering his thoughts, his brows knitting together. "I have my suspicions, but again. Not enough information."

"So, what if…" Une paused as well, and Trowa heard her sharp intake of breath.

"Yes?"

"What if… something happens to Heero?" She let the question hang between them for a beat, and Trowa could hear the thrum of his own heartbeat in his ears.

"I don't know," he said again.

"We need answers," Une said with a sigh. "I've sent a separate team to interrogate Talon." Heero's captor had been arrested earlier that day, and was currently imprisoned in a nearby colony. Trowa realized that Sally and Wufei would probably be dispatched to handle the interrogation, if they hadn't been already.

"In the meantime…" Une continued. "What are you going to do about Relena?"

Trowa's mouth formed a deep crease. "My attempts to relocate her were unsuccessful." He felt a fresh wash of humiliation over his poorly acted attempt, but he'd had to try _something_. He should have known it would backfire, but then some small part of him did think Relena might have been attracted to him just enough...

He heard Une cluck her tongue again. "You haven't told her, have you?"

There was no use in lying to his commander. "I don't think she'd believe me, anyway," he admitted. "And at this point, we're not even sure what we're dealing with-"

"Find a way," Une said simply. "Heero must be dealt with, and it would be better if she were removed from the situation."

Trowa could feel a tension headache coming on, and pinched the bridge of his nose to suppress it. "She won't leave him."

"I understand," Une murmured. "But this investigation must continue, regardless. And this time, we can't afford to let her interfere."

"Right." The word came out as more of a sigh. But Trowa needed to push his emotions far down, where they belonged, into that chasm of nothingness in his center that served him well as a child soldier. "I'll do my best."

His commander sounded doubtful. "I can't believe you let him blow up the base," Une said with a sigh of her own, heavy with disappointment, and Trowa was instantly chastised. "Was _anything_ recovered from the lab, or was it all destroyed?"

"I did my best to sweep the area while the others were dealing with Talon," Trowa answered, his stomach churning as he thought back to what he'd found, which still needed to be examined more fully. He didn't envy whoever would end up with that task.

As if reading his thoughts, Une asked, "Well, you got a pretty good look, right? What did you think?"

Trowa's insides roiled again, as if he could still smell the carrion that had assaulted his nostrils. "I… really can't say. But then necropsy isn't my strong suit. I was planning to turn everything over to the medical examiner-"

"I'll handle that," Une snapped. "This is sensitive, Bloom. We can't let just anyone see."

Of course, he knew the work would have to be done by someone the Preventers had vetted. Why his commander felt the need to remind him of that, given his military experience and pedigree in espionage, was irritating. And Trowa was irritated enough, already.

"Is that all?" he asked warily, hoping to end the call. "I need to get back to Relena. Not really doing my job if I let her wander."

"She's with Heero, undoubtedly," Une said smoothly. "And I still have a few more questions for you…"

"I'll file my full report later." Trowa's anxiety was mounting. There were still so many unanswered questions, he suddenly felt uneasy continuing the discussion over the phone. Encrypted line or not.

"Fine," Une acquiesced, although she didn't sound too happy about it. "You're dismissed, for now. But I expect frequent updates, Bloom."

"Roger that," Trowa said in a flat voice. "Over and out."

Une disconnected the line, and Trowa released a breath he felt like he'd been holding for the entire call. He gave himself a moment to compose himself, staring up at the colony loop. Lights from the circular city glittered overhead, a familiar sight that would normally soothe him. But, like during his time in the wars, Trowa felt anything but calm.

Was he doing the right thing? Was any of this the right thing?

How could they know?

What if they were wrong?

It was possible that they were, and they had just made a deadly mistake. And if they had, well…

It would change everything.

Trowa squared his shoulders, pocketed his phone, and strode across the roof to the lone metal door that would lead him back inside the hospital.

If the worst were to happen… Trowa tried to choke down the fear that rose like bile in his throat.

 _Maybe it's already too late,_ he thought morosely as he made his descent. _And if it is… I'm going to hell._

* * *

Relena's heart was in her throat.

She had all but raced from the roof where she'd left a flustered Trowa, feeling more than a little flustered herself. And angry as hell.

But that was nothing compared to what she felt now, after she'd made it back to Heero's side just in time to find him being prepped for surgery. He'd looked so vulnerable in that hospital bed, with an anguished look on his face that she could tell he was trying desperately to mask. But when his eyes found hers, as she came bursting into the room, she saw the relief in them.

And he smiled.

Heero smiled so rarely, Relena felt as if she could count every occasion on one hand. And this smile was the same one he gave her before launching himself into that final battle, so many years ago.

It was a smile that warmed her heart and troubled it, all at once.

"Everything's going to be all right." Whether those words were true or not, Relena couldn't know. But she said them anyway, employing the most soothing voice she could muster as she clutched Heero tightly to her chest. She felt him nod against her, and he seemed to be breathing her in as she threaded her fingers through his hair. She pulled back only to see that smile of his again.

"You're not worried at all, are you?" Relena said softly, trying to smile herself. But the tears stinging her eyes threatened to destroy what little remained of her composure.

Heero shook his head once. "I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me. Not that I expect you to listen…" He lifted a hand to her face and brushed at her tears. The familiar gesture of his was enough to break her heart all over again.

"I can't help but worry," she said, her shaky voice betraying the brave front she was trying to put on. But maybe there wasn't any point in hiding any more. She allowed a few tears to slip out, which Heero deftly thumbed away, one by one. It only made her want to cry even more.

"You can't worry about what you can't control," Heero said simply, his smile beginning to fade. "You need to be strong. For me." His eyes drifted down to her abdomen. "For them…" Relena glanced down, too, at her tiny baby bump, then back up to Heero, whose smile had returned. "My sons," he said proudly.

Relena arched a brow. "Oh, you're so certain they're boys, are you?" He laughed, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah." He skimmed his hands over her belly. "I have a feeling."

Relena's eyes misted again. "Yeah? Well, you're going to have to stick around to find out…" Her voice caught before she could even finish her sentence. Heero's expression turned serious, and he cupped her face in his hands.

"Relena, listen to me," he said gruffly, his eyes fierce and bright. "I'm not going anywhere."

Relena bit her lip and nodded, trying but failing to keep the tears at bay. "Okay."

"I mean it." Heero's tone was as determined as his expression. "You can stop crying now."

Relena laughed dryly. "Heero…"

They were interrupted by the approach of footsteps at the door. Relena glanced warily over her shoulder as the anesthesiologist and his assistant made their way inside the room. She had already chased them away once.

Their voices were far away from her as they spoke in low tones to Heero, setting about the task of putting him under. She knew he was listening, but all the while his eyes clung to hers.

Relena kept his hands in hers as they began to prep him, forcing a smile onto her face. Unfortunately, she knew Heero could tell she was faking. He gave her a wry smile of his own.

"Hey," he said softly, giving her hands a squeeze. "What did I say?"

"I know," Relena whispered, squeezing him back. "And I'll be right here waiting for you when you wake up."

"All set here," the anesthesiologist broke in, looking from Relena to Heero. "Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?" Heero muttered. The physician looked flummoxed, but Relena couldn't help but laugh, although it had a bitter sound. _She_ certainly wasn't ready. Not for any of this.

"Ready when you are," Heero said at last.

The other man did not look amused, but nodded to his assistant. "Then let's begin."

But before they could start to administer the anesthesia, Relena bent her face to Heero's and pressed a firm kiss to his lips. He kissed her back with equal force.

Their lips parted but their faces remained close.

"I love you, Heero." Relena leaned in to brush his lips again. She couldn't help it. She wanted to savor the moment. Their closeness. Savor him.

Then Heero reached up and cradled the back of her neck, offering her that smile she so cherished before drawing her in for a third and final kiss.

"Relena, I…"

Relena felt his breathing slow against her cheek as his whisper faded and he drifted to sleep.

* * *

 _A/N: More to come... thanks for all the love!_

 _\- RFP_


	6. Pantomime

**December 31, A.C. 212 (Previous day)**

 **The Palais Royale**

 **Brussels, Belgium**

 _Trowa took both of Relena's hands and led her to the center of the ballroom, pulling her closer so that she could rest one hand on his shoulder. He moved his free hand to her waist. They took a few steps together before he gave her a spin, bringing them up to the tempo of the lively waltz the string quartet and pianist were playing._

" _Why, Trowa, you're quite light on your feet." She couldn't help but grin as they moved together. "I almost forgot you were an acrobat."_

 _He smiled back at her. "Thank you. It's been a while since I've done this, though. I'm afraid I'm out of practice."_

" _Oh, somehow I doubt that." Relena felt herself smiling more as he twirled her around again. Then he pulled her against him, bending his head to hers._

 _She couldn't help but gasp at his sudden closeness, as he brought his lips next to her ear._

" _Relena..." he murmured. "There is something you should know."_

 _She pulled back, her eyes immediately widening. "Is it Heero?"_

 _Trowa's lips turned down almost instantly. "I can't say."_

" _Then what_ can _you say?" Relena broke their embrace abruptly, planting her hands at her hips, annoyed that he was obviously trying to tell her something but kept falling back on protocol. It was so… Heero of him. Her eyes tightened into a glare. "Whatever it is, I assure you, I can handle it."_

 _But his face was a mask once more. "We're dancing, remember?" He took her hands and drew her back to him._

" _So you're not going to tell me what that was all about?" Relena was quickly growing exasperated. She wasn't sure how much longer her patience could hold out._

" _Not now." Trowa jerked his head subtly, toward something behind him. Relena frowned, searching his eyes, which seemed to tell her more than his words could…_

* * *

 **January 1, A.C. 213**

 **Late night**

 **ESUN hospital, L3**

Trowa returned to the waiting room to find only Duo and Quatre, sitting and talking together as if nothing were amiss. Sally and Wufei were noticeably absent, likely on their way to L4 to interrogate Talon Van Holt. Relena was also nowhere to be seen, but Trowa had to assume she was with Heero.

The waiting room was abuzz with activity as medical personnel dashed in and out of the double doors that led to the ER. Patients milled about, some in more dire straits than others, as they were checked in and took their seats among the two men clad in Preventers uniforms. Who, in the midst of the pedestrian scene, couldn't help but look conspicuous. Trowa made his way over to them and dropped into an empty seat to Quatre's right. As he did so, more than a few curious glances darted their way. Trowa shot the nosy onlookers his best steely glare before turning his attention to his two cohorts. The busybodies turned away, murmuring to one another all the while.

" _Preventer's here? What for?"_

" _Dunno. Must be something big, though."_

" _You see the news? That Talon guy was arrested…"_

" _You mean that Mars wackadoo, right? Yeah, I saw that… Wasn't that on the_ other _colony though?"_

" _Yeah, that's what I thought, unless that's what they_ want _us to think…'_

"Oh, dear." Quatre pursed his lips and shot a look to Trowa. "It seems we've attracted a bit of attention…"

Trowa shrugged one shoulder, keeping his features impassive, as always. "Nothing we can do about that."

"I feel like we could come up with some better disguises, at least," Duo said from the other side of Quatre. "Not that the attention bothers me," he added with a lopsided grin. "Kinda makes you feel like a rockstar, am I right?"

Trowa and Quatre exchanged glances in obvious disagreement, but otherwise neither of them bothered to dispute Duo. The three fell into an easy silence, which was typical considering they could not discuss the mission at hand in such a public place. After several minutes, though, Duo arched forward in his seat, raising his arms over his head in a stretch before slumping back again.

"Man," he sighed. "Been awhile. I wonder how they're doing?"

By _they,_ Trowa automatically assumed he meant Sally and Wufei.

"I'm sure they're just fine," he answered in a flat voice, staring at one of the TV monitors on the wall, which was showing a random succession of news clips from around the Earth and colonies. "Just following standard operating procedure," he added.

"Aw, come on man, have a heart." Duo leaned forward to address Trowa, shaking his head at him in reproach. "Relena was really worried."

"Oh." Trowa frowned. "Right. I thought you meant-"

"Now I _know_ Sal-gal and Wu-man are fine," Duo cut in. "I mean, what's to worry about there? Those two love playing good cop, bad cop…"

"Duo," Trowa interrupted, his voice taking on an edge of warning. The braided Preventer was getting a little too close to divulging too much. Luckily he took the hint, as he mimed zipping his lips.

Trowa shook his head to the side, annoyed by the almost-slip. But that was the kind of stuff he was used to dealing with whenever he worked with Duo - constantly reining him in.

"Anyway," Trowa grunted, shifting in his seat. "I'm sure Heero is going to be alright." Of course, he had no way to be sure, but he had seen the man cheat death more than once. And if his hunch was right… Well. He couldn't be so sure of that, either.

Une's words from their earlier conversation came floating back to him.

" _What if something… happens to Heero?"_

Trowa fought back a grimace, and kept the thought to himself.

"It's been a while since Relena went in to check on him," Quatre piped up, concern shadowing his features. "I wonder why we haven't heard anything yet?"

Trowa frowned at the other two Preventers. "It's pointless to speculate." Now Quatre and Duo were the ones to exchange looks.

"God, Trowa," Duo scoffed from his seat. "You can be a real dick sometimes, you know that?"

Trowa rolled his eyes, refusing to give a verbal response to the accusation. Which he knew would only bother Duo more, as the braided Preventer seemed to struggle with Trowa's lack of emoting whenever they were paired together.

Quatre chastised Duo for his remark, while Duo grumbled to himself and slumped back in his seat. Once again, they fell into silence, but now it was fraught with tension.

Trowa didn't mean to come across so caustic; he knew, at least, Quatre understood. But if he searched his emotions the way his empathetic friend had no trouble doing, Trowa knew he wouldn't like what he was bound to find.

The truth was, he _was_ concerned, but not for the same reasons everyone else seemed to be.

Right now, he didn't like the idea of Relena being alone with _him._ His only solace was that they were in a hospital, and therefore not truly alone. But there was little Trowa could do to protect her in the moment, and that bothered him more than he cared to admit.

Of course, he assured himself that his protective feelings were perfectly logical, given his current position. He had worked as Relena's bodyguard for the past three months, while also embedded in the Preventer's overall mission to infiltrate Talon Industries and learn what its namesake was really up to when it came to the Mars colonization effort. Duo and Quatre were part of it as well, along with Wufei and Sally; the only problem was, they were all involved at different levels and therefore had different clearance. At the very least, it made communications rather frustrating, if not impossible at times. Trowa learned early on, working alongside Duo, that the other Preventer had been kept in the dark about certain things. Like where Heero was going. Trowa was told the night of Heero's departure, that past October, while Duo was informed at some point later on. And apparently, Une had instructed each of them to keep quiet about what they knew.

But Relena, shrewd as she was, started to put the pieces together on her own. And last night she cornered Duo and Trowa and forced them to tell her everything...

Or so she thought.

At that point, Une had agreed they were ready to move in on Talon. And so Trowa saw little harm in at least telling Relena where Heero really was. What she didn't know - still didn't know - was that Trowa had known all along. And he knew she'd suspected as much, but he'd had to keep insisting he had no idea. He hated lying to her, but it was necessary for her safety and the success of the mission.

But now, Trowa wondered how successful they'd actually been. Because when he reached Talon's base, ahead of all the others, he discovered the real reason Une had sent Heero to infiltrate Talon Industries in the first place…

Trowa's thoughts were disrupted by the doors to the ER swinging open, and Relena stepping through. His body turned involuntarily toward her as she hurried over to the trio of Preventers, her eyes downcast. Upon closer inspection, Trowa could see they were red-rimmed and puffy.

"Relena…" Quatre was the first to address her, his voice cloaked in concern as he stretched a hand out toward her. "What's wrong?"

Relena came to a stop before him and turned her head to the side, biting her lower lip in what appeared to be a monumental effort to keep from crying. Trowa's hackles went up immediately, and he fought his instinct to reach out to her as well, knowing he would not be welcomed.

"He's in surgery," she whispered after a moment. Then she turned and sank into the seat next to Duo, rather than the open seat to Trowa's right. Not that he blamed her, after what he'd pulled earlier. He wished now that he hadn't kissed her, effectively unraveling all of the trust that they'd built between them over the past few months. In the moment, though, that had been the least of his concerns. Now he had no choice but to face the consequences of his actions.

And that was clear, as he watched Duo snake an arm around Relena's shoulders, cradling her against his chest as she burst into tears. Duo raised worried eyes to Quatre and Trowa as he unwittingly assumed the role of her preferred comforter.

"Hey, it's ok, Princess…" A bewildered-looking Duo shushed Relena gently as he rocked her in his arms, clearly not used to seeing her in such a state. But it was something Trowa had begun to grow accustomed to - how many times had he held her when she'd cried over Heero? He'd already lost count…

His arms twitched for her, perhaps the most irritating involuntary sensation of all. Trowa was only vaguely familiar with the sudden pang striking his chest, but knew it had to be jealousy. Another useless emotion he would have to crush into nothingness.

In the meantime, Quatre had pulled a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and was handing it to Relena.

"What happened?" he asked her gently. Relena took it from him and dabbed at her eyes.

"I'm sorry…" Her voice quivered as she smiled faintly at Quatre, then shot an apologetic look to Duo as she straightened herself in her seat. "I… I'm not normally like this… it must be the pregnancy hormones." She laughed lightly and wiped at her eyes again.

"It's ok, babe." Duo rubbed her back reassuringly. "I know a thing or two about hormones…"

His comment made her laugh again, and she tipped her head at Duo. "That's true. Well," she said, turning back toward Quatre, "the doctor said he found a clot in Heero's lungs." Her eyes filled all over again.

"Damn." Duo frowned and squeezed her shoulders, while Quatre leaned forward to clasp Relena's hands.

"I'm sorry, Relena," he said quietly. "I know how scary that must be." Trowa watched as Relena bit her lip and nodded. "But," Quatre added, "we all know Heero is a fighter. He can get through this."

Trowa couldn't help but notice the absence of the absolute. _Can,_ not _will._ He was sure Relena, wordsmith that she was, noticed, too. But she didn't look Trowa's way, not even once. He frowned in his seat, knowing he needed to say something, otherwise he would prove Duo's "dick" comment right.

But what could he do for her when he knew she didn't want him? At this point, he doubted she even wanted to remain friends with him, if that was even what they were.

Trowa could have laughed at the notion. He'd never been just "friends" with a woman. He didn't think it could actually be done. And anyway, he was her protector. That was his role. Sure, he had come to care for her, but only after it had become clear to him that she needed someone. Whenever she'd cried, or panicked, or just confided in him… how could Trowa ignore her? _Then_ he would have been a dick.

He thought that he was simply being there for her when she needed him. After all, it was what he had been instructed to do.

Really, he was just following orders. That was all it ever was.

Ignoring the warning bells sounding in his head, Trowa leaned forward in his seat. His tall frame allowed him to stretch past the other two and grasp Relena's arm.

"We're here for you," he said, hoping it was a benign enough thing to say. Relena's sky-blue eyes snapped to his, and they were full of ice.

"Why are _you_ still here?"

Her words made Trowa's blood run cold as Quatre and Duo both swiveled around to look at him, their faces equal parts baffled and accusatory. Clearly, he had done something to upset their precious Princess, and that was not ok.

Trowa opened his mouth to answer Relena, but she was quicker than him. "I thought you had to leave," she continued, her voice as cool as her gaze. "Why haven't you?"

The truth was, Une had not officially dismissed him, but Trowa saw no point in trying to explain. Not if Relena just wanted him gone.

He sighed and rose to his feet. "I was just going to…"

Duo's eyes swung wildly from Relena to Trowa. "Whoa, wait a minute… the hell is this about?"

Quatre looked up at Trowa with an equally confused expression. "Leaving? Why? Aren't you still…" He glanced around furtively before finishing his question, his aquamarine eyes troubled. "... working with us?"

The inability to communicate fully on the issue at hand added another layer of frustration to the situation. Trowa couldn't tell any of them what he really knew- especially Relena. Instead he had been charged with drawing her away from Heero, for her own safety, but he couldn't even manage to do that.

Some protector he was.

Trowa glanced down to Quatre, disappointed that he was unable to allay any of the blond Preventer's concerns.

"I've been given clearance to… withdraw." Trowa chose his words carefully, not that it mattered what he said. Not when everything was a lie.

"Withdraw?!" Duo tightened his grip on Relena's shoulders. "The hell does that mean? You just… quit?"

Trowa just shrugged. "My assignment is over, as of today. I am no longer needed."

He watched Relena's face as his words registered. She only briefly looked indignant before squaring her shoulders under Duo's grasp.

"Well, then," she said. Trowa stood waiting for her to finish her thought, but no other words came. She turned her head to the side, effectively dismissing him.

Quatre and Duo were undoubtedly scrambling to make sense of whatever had happened, but Trowa knew Relena wasn't about to fill them in… At least not while he was still standing there. Maybe she would tell them the whole story once he'd left, and they would commiserate with her over what an ass he was. _Good,_ he thought. _Give her something else to focus on._ At least if she was pissed with him, she might not keep crying over Heero.

Trowa only briefly allowed himself to wonder about the fate of his old friend as he nodded to the other two Preventers and turned his heel to leave. He strode out of the waiting room without another look back, although he was aware of several sets of eyes following his movements. Unfortunately their little scene was gathering far more attention than he'd liked...

He headed down the corridor leading to the hospital's main lobby, but hadn't gotten very far when he heard footsteps pounding behind him. He sucked in a heavy sigh, bracing himself for his partner's usual shenanigans.

"What is it?" Trowa snapped without bothering to turn back around. He stiffened as a hand clamped down on his shoulder and forced him to spin around. Duo may have been shorter than Trowa by several inches, but he was still plenty strong, and enjoyed making that fact known whenever possible.

"What the hell, man?" Duo snarled up at Trowa.

Trowa's nostrils flared as he bore down on Duo. "What do you want? I already told you, I've been cleared of my post."

A lie. Again. Not that Trowa cared.

But for some reason, Duo did.

He released Trowa's shoulder roughly, balling his hands into fists at his sides. "Bullshit," he seethed, his violet eyes flashing. "You know how I know? Because I just got off the phone with our Commander, just before you showed up in here. And _she_ said we're _all_ supposed to stay with Relena." Duo straightened himself to his full height, although he still couldn't reach Trowa. He jutted his chin up in what was probably the most threatening stance he could muster. Normally such a sight would make Trowa laugh, but he allowed himself to flinch. To appear remorseful.

"Take it up with Gold, then," he said, using Une's codename. He cloaked his features with a slightly wounded expression. "I have to go," he said in a softer voice, hoping he would sound hurt enough, for whatever reason, to keep Duo from figuring out what he was still hiding. Such subterfuge was necessary; Trowa knew the former Deathscythe pilot was more astute than he looked.

Overall, Trowa wasn't too worried, though. After years in the spotlight, he'd become a pretty good actor, even if he was still critiquing his earlier performance with Relena. He'd let a few too many cracks show. He'd have to do better next time.

For now, he needed to regroup and recalibrate. Let Une deal with how to wrangle the others. They were keeping Relena close, at least; at the moment, that was all that mattered.

Duo's eyes narrowed as he peered up at Trowa. After a long moment, the braided Preventer appeared to cave.

"Just tell me what happened with Relena, man." Duo sighed and eased his aggressive stance, switching to a more casual tone of voice. Trowa would guess it was a manipulation tactic, but he'd always known Duo to be more transparent than that. "Something _did_ happen, didn't it?"

Trowa shrugged and lowered his eyes, tightening his jaw ever so slightly. There were so many roles he could play in this pantomime, but there was one that stood out clearly.

The jilted lover.

"I can't say," he grumbled, keeping his eyes on the tiled floor.

"Shit," he heard Duo say. "I knew it. I knew something happened…"

"You did?" Trowa forced surprise into his voice, as he slowly raised his eyes. "But… how?"

He looked up to see Duo shaking his head, sending his braid swinging to one side. "Last night, man… I should've known. When you brought Relena to your room…"

 _Of course._ Trowa couldn't have laid the breadcrumb trail out better if he'd tried. He had let Relena stay in his hotel room the night before, but his intentions had been innocent; he'd let her have his bed and stretched out on the couch, communicating with Une all the while about the sudden change in plans. And as soon as he heard the sounds of Relena's soft, even breathing, he'd crept out of the room and headed to the spaceport, needing to reach Talon - and Heero - ahead of everyone else.

What had been a simple gentlemanly gesture, though, turned out to be a rather convenient plot point in the tale he was weaving.

He gave Duo his most pained expression before taking a step forward, looming over the shorter man.

"You can't say anything about this to _anyone_ ," Trowa said in a harsh whisper.

Duo's eyes jerked wide, and his face paled.

 _Wow._ Trowa really had him fooled...

"You son of a bitch-"

And Trowa knew he should have been prepared for Duo's fist to come flying up into his jaw. Trowa barely had time to shift his head to the side when Duo's other fist connected with a loud _crack._

The one-two punch was practically a Gundam pilot specialty; they were all ambidextrous. Something few opponents ever counted on…

Of course, Trowa had to allow the punch to land, and couldn't let himself counter it. Not when this new lie gave him the perfect cover.

Trowa turned his head to the side and spit a wad of blood onto the floor while rubbing his jaw, muttering a few curses of his own.

Duo was instantly sorry. "Shit, man…" He winced as he looked up at Trowa. "I figured you'd dodge…"

"It's all right." Trowa slumped his shoulders. "It's nothing I don't deserve…"

Duo's eyes tightened. "Yeah, well, in that case you should thank me. If Heero finds out about this…" He shook his head morosely. "You're already a dead man."

Trowa barked a laugh around the throbbing in his jaw. "No shit."

"All right, well…" Duo scratched the back of his head, glancing sheepishly at Trowa. "You should… maybe go get some ice or something. Anyway, if I were you, I would definitely make myself scarce."

"That's the plan."

Duo sighed deeply. "Man, I just can't believe it… you and Relena?! Like she would do that to Heero?!" His face went a shade paler. "And she's _pregnant_ with his… motherf-"

"Please don't say anything to her," Trowa cut in, waving a hand. "You'll only make her feel worse than she already does. And now she's dealing with Heero's… illness…"

Whatever _that_ was. Trowa's suspicions were mounting. And if they were confirmed, then their problems were only beginning.

Duo reluctantly agreed to keep quiet before trudging back to the waiting room. Trowa left the hospital hoping the drama he'd created would provide enough of a distraction, for now. And after all the lies he'd told, surely he'd confirmed his place in hell.

But that was all well and good.

He knew the reality that awaited them was far, far worse.

* * *

 _A/N: So... do you know what Trowa thinks he knows? Does anyone know? I mean, I do, but that doesn't help you much at the moment ;)_

 _Well, I hope this chapter answered some questions while raising others. Don't worry, it will all make sense at some point... In the meantime, I'll try not to take as long between updates next time so you won't be anxious for TOO long..._

 _For those of you who are curious or may not remember, the flashback scene at the beginning is from Chapter 18 of_ Red Moon Glow; _figured I'd save you the search in case you feel like going back and rereading. I am also trying to remember to summarize here and there for those of you who have not read the prequel, which is totally ok. :D_

 _What do you think is really happening? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts... Many of you expressed interest in more of Trowa's POV, so I hope this chapter did not disappoint... so I'd also like to know, who are you rooting for at this point?_

 _Always happy to hear from you... thanks for all the love!_

 _Hugs!_

 _\- RFP_


	7. What Games, Indeed

**January 1, A.C. 213**

 **Late night**

 **ESUN hospital, L3**

By the time Trowa left the waiting room and Duo returned, Relena had finally managed to calm some. Quatre's soothing presence was helping; he mostly sat, nodded and patted Relena's hand as she whimpered her worries into his shoulder. She didn't always wear her heart on her sleeve like this, but then the circumstances were far from usual. And if her friends were willing to offer her support, in times like these, she was going to take it.

Unless, of course, those so-called "friends" were only trying to take advantage of her… At least that's what it seemed Trowa had been trying to do. Relena still couldn't work out what his real intentions were; all she knew was that when Trowa kissed her and confessed his feelings for her out of the blue like that… he could _not_ have picked a worse time to do it. And that struck her as stupid, and careless, and selfish, and all these things that she had been certain Trowa wasn't. She had spent months getting to know him - and like him, even - and thought she could trust him. Apparently, she'd thought wrong.

Relena was still infuriated with him, that he'd had the gall. What was his endgame? Did he really think she was just going to abandon Heero in the hospital and run off with _him_?

" _What_ has gotten into him?" Relena groaned, realizing too late she'd voiced her frustrations out loud. She flushed as she glimpsed at Duo and Quatre, who were seated on either side of her. "Sorry," she added.

Duo scoffed. "No need. Guy's been a real dickwad lately." Relena was surprised he seemed to know who she was talking about. Then again, given the obvious discomfort she'd shown toward Trowa when he was in the room, she supposed she shouldn't have been.

"Duo!" Quatre gasped and glanced around them. "Not so loud…"

"What? No one cares what I say about that dickweed…"

Relena frowned, pursing her lips. "What's the difference between a dickwad and a dickweed, exactly?"

"Dunno." Duo shrugged. "There's no difference, I guess. Either way… the guy sucks."

Quatre was frowning at the both of them. "And who are we talking about, again?"

"Trowa," Relena and Duo said in unison.

Quatre's frown faded from his face, replaced by a look of confusion. "But why? I mean, I know Trowa can be… blunt at times, but overall he means well…"

Relena turned from him to Duo, then balked when she saw the braided Preventer was giving her a funny look. Almost as if he were studying her. She frowned and matched his gaze.

"Yes?" she asked him, splaying her hands. "Do you have something to add?"

Duo said nothing, just continued to stare at her, his eyes tightening. Relena shot a look to Quatre, but he still appeared to be baffled by the whole discussion. She turned back to Duo, frowning.

"What?"

He cocked his head to the side, but maintained eye contact with her. "You know what."

The look he was giving her was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. Like she should be shrinking down in her seat. In all the time she'd known Duo, she hadn't known he was capable of casting a glare like that. It was almost bad enough to rival Heero's...

"I don't _know_ what," she said, employing the forceful tone she used in tense board meetings. "Why don't you just tell me?"

Duo sighed and rolled his eyes at the same time. "I _know._ Okay?"

"Know _what_?" Relena pressed.

"Something I'm not supposed to." Duo glanced around them with an anxious expression, as if worried about who may overhear them. Relena arched a brow.

"Look," Duo added, his face darkening with a flush, "he asked me not to say anything, but-"

"He?" Relena cut in. "Who?"

"Trowa," Duo spat, as if just saying the name exasperated him.

Relena blinked at him, stupefied. "But what did he ask you not to…" Her voice trailed off as she realized. Then she gasped, her own face turning a bright shade of pink. "I can't believe he told you!"

 _How dare he!_ It was all Relena could do to keep from shaking with fury, assuming she and Duo were referring to the same thing. But what else could it be? Clearly, Trowa had spilled the beans about what had happened between them on the rooftop - no, what _he_ had done to _her._

"Then it's true..." Duo looked horrified, which Relena didn't quite understand. Sure, what Trowa had done was inappropriate, but it was hardly the most scandalous thing that could have happened. Yet Duo was looking at her as if something far worse had occurred… Frankly, the reaction was strange, coming from him. If anything, Relena would expect Duo to make an off-color joke about the whole thing. Instead, he looked like he'd been sucker-punched, as if someone told him Hilde had cheated on him.

Relena didn't even expect _Heero_ would react this badly. She was sure that when she told him - which she would, eventually, once he was fully recovered from his surgery - he would take the news rather calmly, and eerily so. Heero tended to process everything, even the grimmest of news, as a soldier, still. Relena expected he would listen carefully as she related what happened, nod, and perhaps brood a little, privately, but then that would be that. Later on he would probably have words with Trowa, unless he was satisfied that the matter had resolved itself. And, given that Relena had rejected Trowa and he had left, she was sure Heero would drop the issue entirely. Besides, she had made it clear to Heero, over and over, that she had chosen him. Not only was she promised to him, they had made the miracle of life together- two lives that were growing inside her. Heero was it for Relena; there _was_ no other choice.

"What's true?" Quatre asked, blinking innocently at Relena and Duo, who both frowned in response. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry…" Quatre held up both his hands. "I know it's none of my business."

Duo tipped his head toward Relena. "Up to you whether you wanna share this with anyone else, although the cat's already kinda outta the bag..."

Relena groaned, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "I think you're making far too big of a deal about this…"

"Oh, _am_ I?!" Duo gritted his teeth, looking and sounding like he was on the verge of exploding.

"Yes," Relena said tautly, her own frustration mounting. "I don't see why you seem so upset with me, when _Trowa_ is the one at fault." She pointed her chin up regally, daring anyone to challenge her innocence. "I've done nothing wrong."

Hadn't she, though? A little voice inside prodded at her conscience, but Relena mentally batted it away.

"What?" Quatre's eyes darted wildly from Relena to Duo, then back again. "What did Trowa do?"

Duo groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "Are you saying the guy _forced_ himself on you? 'Cause I wanna give you the benefit of the doubt, but that's a pretty major accusation to make…"

Now Quatre was the one who looked horrified, his words overlapping Duo's. "But… I-I don't understand..."

"I'm not saying _that_." Relena waved both her hands.

"Good." Duo clenched his fists. "'Cause if that were the case, then I should've pummeled pretty boy's face even more-"

"You _hit_ him?!" Relena cried, whirling on Duo. "For _kissing_ me?!"

"What?!" Duo looked just as floored. "He said he slept with you!"

"He _said_ that?!" Relena didn't think her face was capable of getting any hotter. "Why would he say something like that?!"

"Oh, my…" Quatre cupped a hand over his mouth, his face also turning a shade pinker.

"Huh. Well…" Duo slumped back in his chair, scratching the back of his head. "Did he say that, exactly? Erm…" He loosed a nervous chuckle.

Relena could have killed him. "Duo," she managed to say rather calmly, considering her heartbeat was as wild as a stampede. "Where in the world did you ever get the idea that Trowa and I slept together?" Even saying the words left a bad taste in her mouth. To think…

No. Nope. She wasn't even going to go there. It just felt so, so wrong…

Relena shivered before shifting her attention back to her accuser. "Well?"

"I, uh, thought maybe something'd happened between you two. He was acting so weird around you," Duo said, spreading his hands. "And you were acting pretty weird, too… _Now_ I get it." He shook his head back and forth. "I mean, it doesn't excuse him for kissing you, but-"

"That's still a pretty big leap you made," Relena interrupted him. "Why?"

"Ah, well, I figured something went down after he brought you to his hotel room, and he didn't deny it, sooo..."

Relena's face flamed all over again. "Okay, well I have no idea what kind of game Trowa thinks he's playing, but I assure you, _nothing_ happened last night."

"But you said he kissed you?" Duo's brow furrowed. "I'm confused…"

"Not _then_ ," Relena hissed.

"Then when?"

"None of your business!" she shrieked.

Quatre reached over and patted her hand. "Shh… It's okay, Relena, just try to stay calm. Stress is bad for the baby. _Babies_ ," he swiftly corrected himself.

Relena slid her gaze over to Quatre's much more serene one and nodded. "Okay."

"Hmm…" Duo was tapping a finger to his chin. "What games, indeed…"

Quatre and Relena exchanged questioning looks. "What?" Relena asked.

Duo didn't finish his thought. At least, he didn't seem to… "Would you say Trowa's been acting weird since…" He glanced around them and dropped his voice to a low whisper. "Since Talon's base?"

Relena frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"Ya know. Out of character?"

"I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary," said Quatre, shrugging his shoulders. "He's been his usual stoic, if slightly caustic, self."

Quatre's apt assessment of Trowa was the type of thing that would usually make Relena laugh. But Duo was looking at them so seriously, it was almost frightening.

"Well, yeah," Duo continued, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, his brows knitting closely together. "See, that's why I'm wondering when he made a move on Relena…" Duo turned toward her. "Was it before or after… all of that?"

Relena lowered her eyes. "It… just happened a little while ago."

"As in today?" Duo's eyes widened as she nodded, fighting the flush that was scurrying across her face. His face darkened, and he nodded back at her. "Yeah, that's what I thought…" He glanced over to Quatre, shaking his head morosely. "Not good," he mumbled, seemingly more to himself. "Not good, man…"

"What do you think might have happened?" Relena was trying to keep up with the frantic pace of Duo's thoughts, but it was proving to be a difficult, if not impossible, feat.

"Dunno. But he's been acting so bonkers, I wouldn't be surprised if Talon - or someone - zapped him with, like, a psycho ray. I mean, if any of us were to be a candidate for being brainwashed, it'd be that guy."

Relena whipped her head over to Quatre as he started laughing.

"It's not funny!" she hissed.

"I'm sorry." Quatre straightened his posture, wiping at his eyes. "That just… caught me off guard, is all. But really, Duo? You think… someone... _did_ something to Trowa?"

"Maybe," Duo said with a shrug. "Maybe Heero, too."

He said the words so flippantly, yet Relena couldn't stop the shiver that crawled down her back. She knew Heero had probably been through hell while Talon had him in captivity - he'd spoken of being tortured, although he hadn't gone into detail.

" _Not all torture is physical,"_ she remembered him saying earlier. So what was it, then? Something psychological?

Relena posed the question to Quatre and Duo, quietly, speaking just above a whisper.

"Interesting." Duo scratched his chin with his thumb. "Wonder if that's what those guys were talking about earlier…"

"When?" Relena frowned. She didn't recall Heero and Trowa speaking privately at any point, but then she was beginning to question her own mental acuity at the moment. That, or she was finally experiencing what she'd heard was known as "pregnancy brain." All she knew was that her mind felt hazy, and she no longer knew quite who or what to believe…

"I saw them take off together earlier," Duo reminded her. "Remember? When Trowa got you tea…"

"Oh…" Relena frowned as it came back to her. "Right." But Trowa was still acting "normal" then, right? Normal for an ex-Gundam pilot, anyway...

"That was right before Heero was admitted," Quatre said softly. Relena glanced over at him, and saw that his aquamarine eyes were troubled.

Next to her, Duo muttered a low curse. Her hackles shot up immediately. "What is it?" she asked warily.

She watched as Duo reached up and ran his hand through his hair, splaying all five fingers over his scalp. "I don't know, but… something's just not right."

Relena shifted her gaze to Quatre, hoping to find his calm reassurance, but his expression was growing increasingly panicked.

"Wait.. what do you think is going on?!" Relena demanded of both of them. Either of them.

"I wish I knew," Quatre said, reaching over to take Relena's hands in his. He gave both of them a squeeze. Relena squeezed back, weakly, not knowing what else to do.

"One of us should go find Trowa," Duo muttered, his eyes darting about the room. "At least we know Heero is safe, here, being cared for…"

Relena watched as what appeared to be a silent communication passed between the two Preventers, and Quatre gently loosed Relena's hands before rising to his feet. Her eyes followed him as he stood.

"You're going?"

He nodded down at her, eyes full of sadness. "I'm sorry, Relena," he said, his mouth twisting. "I wish I could stay with you, too…"

Relena bit her lower lip. She would miss his soothing demeanor, that was for sure. "Don't worry about me," she said softly. "I'm sure whatever is going on with Trowa, you're the best one to figure it out." She knew the two pilots had been close during the war, although she didn't know if that was the case any more. She wondered if Trowa Barton was all that close to anyone.

After all, just when she thought she'd gotten to know him well enough, he turned out to be more of a mystery to her than she ever could have fathomed.

Relena watched as Quatre departed the waiting room, leaving her and Duo to wait for any news of Heero. She prayed the surgery would be over soon, and while the doctor she'd spoken with hadn't given her a succinct timetable, she knew the procedure was rather invasive and complex. It could take several hours, yet.

In the meantime, she resolved to stay strong. Perhaps she and Duo could find some more benign subjects to talk about, to distract them from so many unknowns…

But the longer they sat in silence, the more Relena found she could think of nothing else.

"How will Quatre know where to find Trowa?" she asked Duo after a while. "He could be anywhere by now…"

"Yeah, well we're on L3. I bet there's only one place he would go, at this point…"

"Where?" Relena asked, genuinely curious as to what - or who - Trowa might have to go to on L3. It dawned on her how little she actually knew of him, then; how little he shared of himself.

"Where else?" Duo shrugged. "Home."

* * *

 _A/N: Oh, boy! Here we go again! Still building a mystery over here... Sorry for the long wait between updates. I may disappear for a bit yet again, because I'm SUPPOSED to be working on an original novel project... I signed up for this month's Camp NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month for those of you who haven't heard of this crazy, crazy thing) and my goal is to finish the whole darn thing this month. BLAH. Not sure what I was thinking, but I'm in it to win it! And I'm not the only author on here who's currently undertaking this challenge... shout out to Scarlet Eve and Mistaken-Miracles, my partners in crime (and fangirling) :P_

 _I'm so excited about my current original WIP that I want to tell all of you about it... let's just say it's a love story (duh) about a geeky girl and a hunky guy... and there are multiple nerdy references throughout :D HEA guaranteed!_

 _Hope you're having a fantastic summer (or winter!) wherever you are! And I hope you are still intrigued by this crazy little story... Let's continue to pull this thread and see where it goes, shall we?_

 _Love & hugs,_

 _\- RFP_


	8. Educated Guesses

**January 2, A.C. 213**

 **Wee hours of the morning**

 **L3 Colony**

The big top was dark and silent, the only illumination coming from the pale gleam of security lights that surrounded it on all sides. Trowa glanced around the tent as if it was his personal duty to be sure nothing was amiss before bypassing his old trailer and heading toward the large apartment complex that loomed nearby, fingering his rarely-used key. His sister had moved into the building years ago, once the circus ceased touring the Earth and other colonies, after their manager declared it too expensive. The company had stayed put for some time now, serving as a tourist attraction for the area - the only circus with live animals that continued to operate in space.

Trowa doubted Cathy would be awake when he entered the apartment, but then she did tend to keep some pretty unorthodox hours. And so he was only mildly surprised when the apartment door flung open before he'd even had a chance to turn his key.

"Hey, sis," he started in casually, but the woman standing in the doorway was the very picture of fury - starting with her flaming mane of red curls.

"Don't 'oh, hey sis' _me_." Cathy folded her arms across her oversized gray sweatshirt and glared up at him with unblinking green eyes that mirrored his own - although Trowa still doubted, at times, they were actually blood-related, he never dared raise the issue to Cathy. Real siblings or no, that was what they'd come to mean to one another. And with very few exceptions, it was the only true long-term relationship he'd ever had.

"Sorry. I wanted to call, but…" Trowa let his words trail off with a shrug. After so many years of disappearing on missions, he knew Cathy was used to his re-appearing at random. And he knew she wasn't _that_ annoyed at him for it, either; she merely used it as an excuse to mother him. Never mind the fact that they were in their thirties, now… it seemed some habits really did die hard.

Cathy peered up at him for another beat before yielding. "Well, you're a little late for Christmas dinner…" Her stern glare evaporated with a wink. At last, she stepped aside so Trowa could enter the apartment fully. "Lucky for you I saved you some, though. You hungry?"

Trowa followed his sister into the nearby kitchen, his nose crinkling. "For week-old food? Not particularly…"

Cathy rolled her eyes at him from the refrigerator. "I froze everything, silly." She turned to open the freezer drawer and began to pull out a series of glass containers. Trowa made a face to her back.

"Somehow that doesn't increase the appeal."

"You're such a food snob," Cathy sighed. Despite his protests, she popped the lid off of a container and placed it inside the microwave. "Remind me again why you have such a problem eating leftovers?"

"I don't even know what you made."

"Doesn't matter; you'll like it. _Promise_."

Trowa smiled and shook his head at her, but Cathy wasn't paying him any attention as she set about her task. And so he admitted defeat, taking a seat at the kitchen island and watching her reheat various frozen objects that appeared to be meat, greens, potatoes and gravy.

After several minutes, she set a steaming plate before him, and Trowa had to admit that it all smelled delicious. Cathy smiled at him satisfactorily before hopping up to sit on the chair opposite his.

"Aren't you having any?" Trowa asked before taking a tentative bite. Thankfully, the food tasted as good as it smelled. But then Cathy's culinary skills had improved marginally over the years.

"At this hour?" She arched an auburn brow. "Trowa, it's two in the morning."

"Then what are you doing up so late?" he asked her. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

Cathy placed a hand over her mouth and yawned delicately. "No, actually… I just got in a little while ago myself."

Trowa frowned as he sliced into his steak. "Doing what?"

"What do _you_ think?" Her eyes glinted at him mischievously. "I had a date."

Now it was Trowa's turn to raise his eyebrows. It was a kneejerk reaction whenever his sister started dating someone new. Because she tended to date… jerks. But he'd learned long ago not to pry into her business if he didn't want her prying into his, so he tried his best to remain detached, yet supportive.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

Cathy shrugged one shoulder. "It went," she said coyly. "How'd your mission go?"

Trowa paused between bites to smile slyly at her. "It went."

She grinned at him unabashedly. "Does that mean you're done for now?"

"Maybe." He shrugged. "It's too soon to say."

Her smile vanished at that. "Too soon? You've been gone three _months_."

"Well… you know how that goes." Trowa dropped his gaze back to his plate. There was no point in explaining to her, and there was so much he couldn't say, anyway.

Far too much.

But Cathy was never one to let him off the hook that easily. "You were part of that Talon Van Holt bust yesterday, weren't you?" she pressed.

Trowa chuckled at her astuteness. "You know I can't answer that."

"Oh, please. This thing has Preventers written all over it." She leaned forward and poked his bicep. "And anyway, that would explain what you're doing back in space so soon, when you were just in Brussels…"

Trowa tilted his head to look at her, frowning. "How did you know I was in Brussels?"

Cathy make a "tsk" sound with her tongue. "You're getting sloppy, little brother, aren't you?" Before Trowa could interrogate her further, she was producing her phone from her sweatshirt pocket and handing it to him. "Now, this is either you, or a very convincing doppelganger…"

Her words took him aback, but Trowa just shook his head and reached for the phone. "What are you…"

His eyes fell on a series of headlines Cathy had bookmarked.

 _Relena Darlian waltzes with mystery man at ESUN ball_

 _New Year, new love?! Relena Darlian and beau dazzle on the dance floor_

 _Relena's mystery hunk revealed: EXCLUSIVE_

"Shit," Trowa muttered, clicking on the last headline, although it was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I mean… you can't expect to go anywhere with Relena Darlian and not have the world find out about it, right?" Cathy said cheerfully, pointing down at the screen. "Of course, there was actual news footage, too, but the gossip sites sure had a field day with this…"

Trowa was busy scanning the article, which identified him as Triton Bloom, star acrobat of the Colony Circus.

"... along with his twin sister, Catherine Bloom." Trowa sighed and glanced up from the phone. "You're still marketing us as twins, huh?"

Cathy smiled and tipped her head. "Whatever sells tickets, right?"

"This is not good." Trowa closed out of the article and handed the phone back over to Cathy.

"Why not?! What do you care? Free press!" she sang.

"I mean it's not good for Relena," Trowa said pointedly.

"Oh, I'm sure she's used to being linked to every guy she stands next to in public by now." Cathy flapped a hand. "I doubt it even bothers her any more."

"Well… this one might." Trowa grimaced down at his plate.

Cathy's eyes widened. "How come?"

Trowa busied himself gathering up his plate and utensils. "She's engaged to Heero now."

"Whoa, really?!" Cathy leapt up from her seat, following Trowa over to the sink as he turned on the faucet and rinsed his plate. "When did _that_ happen?"

"Just yesterday, apparently." Trowa gave a dismissive shrug before depositing his plate in the dishwasher. He chose not to elaborate or mention Relena's pregnancy; that was her news to share.

And anyway, Cathy was excited enough over the little information he'd given her.

"No _way_ … this is huge!" she shrieked. "What's it been, like… _eighteen_ years?!" She shook her head wildly, sending her curls tumbling about. "Well, it's about freaking time! Am I right?"

"Yeah." Trowa shrugged again, not knowing what else to do or say. He was only determined to remain impassive. Instead, his nonchalance was having the opposite effect on his sister…

"Oh, my god, Trowa!" She gasped and squeezed his arm. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

Trowa scoffed and leaned back against the counter. "Uh… no."

"No, you are." Cathy nodded up at him decidedly. "Something's going on with the two of you, I'll bet. At least there _was_ …" She tapped a finger to her chin.

Trowa wished his sister would stop playing detective for the night. "What makes you think that?"

"Um, _this_ , for one thing." Cathy reproduced her phone and held it up to Trowa's face, zooming in on a photo of him and Relena dancing. Unfortunately, the photographer happened to capture Trowa leaning down to whisper in Relena's ear. From the looks of it, he could have been kissing her. Of course, he knew better, but the image still caught him off-guard. Despite everything he knew to be true, they _looked_ like lovers.

Trowa shoved the phone away. "That proves nothing."

"I figured you'd say something like that." Cathy rolled her eyes as she pocketed her phone. "But as they say, a picture's worth a thousand words…"

"There's nothing between us. Never has been, never will be." Trowa delivered the words a little more harshly than he intended. He watched as Cathy's eyebrows shot up, realizing he sounded like he cared far more than he did.

"Then why wasn't Heero the one dancing with her?" Cathy crossed her arms over her chest and smirked up at Trowa.

Trowa loosed a sigh. "He wasn't even there…"

"Then where _was_ he?" Cathy shot back.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I can't say."

"Does that mean you don't know, or you _do_ know but it's… classified?" she guessed, looking downright amused at the situation.

Trowa rolled his eyes and went to move past her. "I'm going to bed." Then, not wanting to be a total jerk to his sister, added over his shoulder, "Thanks for dinner."

"Whatever," Cathy tossed in his direction. "I'll get the whole story out of you, one of these days."

"No, you won't, because there's nothing to tell." With that, Trowa turned and headed down the hallway toward his bedroom.

" _Psssh,_ like I'd believe _that_." He could hear Cathy following behind him, stopping at the door to her own room. "Anyway… I'm just glad to have you home, little brother."

Trowa paused at his door and glanced back at her. He couldn't help but smile at the "little," considering how he'd towered over her since his late teens. "It's good to be back, sis."

"So… does that mean you'll be sticking around for a while?" Even in the dark hallway, Trowa could see the hope glimmering in her eyes. He hoped to whoever was listening that she wasn't about to start crying.

"I'll certainly try," Trowa said, and Cathy's face broke into a grin.

"Good," she said. "Because I missed your face." She tilted her head to the side. "The half that I can see, anyway."

Trowa rolled his eyes good-naturedly before opening the door to his room. "Goodnight, sis."

He could hear Cathy practically cackling at his retreating back. "'Night, little brother. Sweet dreams!"

The moment Trowa stepped into his room, and his thoughts enveloped him like the darkness he stood in, he knew his dreams would be anything but.

That was, if he could even manage to fall asleep that night. Not only did his body need to readjust to colony time after spending weeks on Earth, but his thoughts only continued to race. Besides the case that still demanded resolution, now he had to contend with all of the press surrounding him and Relena. Cathy was right; he had gotten sloppy. And now, he'd gone and left his charge in a potentially dangerous situation, all because he'd screwed up… and on a grand scale. His only comfort was knowing that there were three other Preventers in the hospital with her, two of whom were fully conscious. Trowa only hoped that everything would stay under control, long enough for him to recalibrate his plan - and before Une could find out he'd abandoned his post. He decided he'd better check in with one of his teammates, and reached for his phone to dial up the obvious choice.

Trowa swiped on the screen only to see the very name of the person he was about to call. But, then, Quatre had always seemed to possess a sixth sense like that.

"Hey." Trowa answered before the phone could even ring.

"Are you home?"

"Yeah, just got in…"

"Oh, good." Quatre's relief was plain through the phone. "I'm downstairs… I checked in with the doorman, but I didn't want him to buzz up there in case Cathy was asleep…"

Typical Quatre; thoughtful as always. "I'll be right down," Trowa told him, hanging up the call. He could only vaguely wonder what his friend was doing there. And as Trowa made his way out of his apartment, down the hall to the elevator, he told himself not to worry for Relena's safety. She was still with Duo, at least; there was no way Quatre would have left otherwise.

 _Unless…_ Trowa dared himself to hope, just for a moment, as he stepped into the elevator and punched the lobby button. Had Quatre managed to do the impossible, and lure Relena away from the hospital? Away from Heero? If he had, not only would Trowa save face with Une, but then he knew, undoubtedly, Relena would be safe. Because she would be with him, and he would make sure of it.

But when the elevator doors opened up to the lobby, Trowa saw the blond-haired man was alone. Quatre greeted Trowa with a wave and a smile, as if there was nothing strange about his showing up in the middle of the night. And leaving the mission, just as Trowa had. But the agent knew that things must have taken a turn, and whatever Quatre's reason was for being there… it had to be important.

"Let's go somewhere and talk," Quatre suggested once they were standing side by side. "I was thinking… not in your apartment." He shrugged casually, as if they weren't in the middle of a massive investigation. "Wouldn't want to wake your sister."

"Or risk her overhearing?" Trowa muttered.

"That, too."

"All right. I know just the place." Trowa led the way out of the apartment complex, onto the darkened street.

Moments later, they were seated across from one another at the large antique leather trunk Trowa used as a table in his trailer.

"Is this place soundproof?" Quatre joked as Trowa set about turning on his hot plate so he could boil water for tea.

"There's no one around, now," Trowa replied as he filled a small pot with water. "We should be fine. Better than in the building, anyway." He finished setting the pot on the hot plate, then turned back to Quatre, frowning. "So why are you here?"

As usual, his friend got straight to the point. "Duo and Relena both said you've been acting… off, ever since we left Talon's base. We decided someone ought to check on you." Quatre's mouth was pressed into a hard line, but his gaze was soft.

"And you drew the short straw?" Trowa snorted.

"No." Quatre shook his head to the side. "I volunteered."

"Ah. All right." Trowa turned the heat off as the water began to boil. "So you're all worried I've lost my marbles?"

"We're worried… something may have happened to you. And to Heero," Quatre add quietly.

"Something definitely happened to Heero," Trowa agreed as he filled two mugs with the hot water. "What, exactly, we may never know, but are currently trying to investigate…" He opened a box of tea and pulled out two packets of oolong, opened them and dropped one into each mug.

"And you?" Quatre asked as Trowa handed him a mug.

"Don't you think I would have told you by now?"

Quatre chuckled. "No. You don't just tell me things. Usually I make a series of educated guesses, and _occasionally_ you reward me with cryptic answers."

Trowa tipped his mug toward his old friend. "Well, then. Ask away."

Quatre set his mug down carefully on the trunk and leaned forward in his seat, his blue-green eyes gazing steadily at Trowa. "All right. What happened on Talon's base that had you so spooked, you haven't told anyone?"

Trowa straightened in his seat. "I already told you. Nothing."

Quatre's eyes flashed, and Trowa knew immediately his friend could see right through the lie. "You were sent to canvas the base while the rest of us were in position. Sally remained in the Aventinus, most of the time. And yet she seemed a bit winded when we were all back on the ship later…" Quatre paused and reached for his tea. "She helped you transport something," he concluded before taking a slow sip.

Trowa sat in stunned silence for a beat, but refused to let any emotion seep through his carefully composed facade. He should have known Quatre, of all people, would begin to put the pieces together before anyone else.

It made lying to him all the more difficult.

"We weren't transporting something…" he began.

"Some _one_ , then," Quatre cut in.

Trowa drew in a shallow breath. "Quatre…" he warned.

"I knew I sensed more than just the seven of us on the Aventinus," Quatre said excitedly.

Trowa stiffened. "You don't know anything."

"I know enough, now," Quatre said calmly, taking another sip of his tea. "But don't worry, I won't say anything to Une," he added. "I know I'm not supposed to know any of this. I was only brought onto this mission for backup, after all." His lips curved upward.

Trowa chuckled, reaching up to run a hand through his long bangs. "Why do I get the feeling you should be running this operation?"

"That's all right," Quatre said with a shake of his head. "I'll be content to get back to work when this is all over. Speaking of…" He set his mug back down on the trunk, frowning slightly. "What do you plan to do now? We're both technically still on assignment…"

"Yeah. Technically." Trowa sat back in his seat, folding his arms across the front of his Preventers jacket. "Now that Heero's back, I assume I'm no longer needed in Relena's detail…"

"But Heero is… incapacitated, at the moment," Quatre said quietly.

"Yeah," Trowa muttered, his thoughts once again racing a million miles a minute.

"So. Relena might still need you around," Quatre went on. "Or, Une could send either one of us to assist Sally and Wufei with the investigation…"

"I'll go wherever I'm sent," Trowa cut in. He assumed he would soon be dispatched to examine what was left of Talon's base, given Une's unhappiness over how that matter was handled. "Let's just stay here for the night," he added. "We can regroup in the morning."

"It _is_ morning," Quatre teased. "But I agree. We should both rest for now; then we can head back to the hospital and check in with everyone."

Trowa frowned at that. "You sure I should bother showing my face around there?"

"I'm sure Duo and Relena are both just worried about you," Quatre said, smiling gently. "Once they know you're okay, they'll probably forget about whatever else happened. Besides," he added, his smile flattening. "There are plenty of _other_ things to worry about right now."

Trowa nodded, although morosely.

"And anyway…" Quatre reached for his mug once again. "Even if everyone thinks you're crazy… I'll vouch for your sanity." He grinned at Trowa before raising his mug back to his lips.

Trowa barked out a laugh. "Thanks, friend. As always I appreciate the vote of confidence."

Quatre chuckled after sipping his tea. "Any time. I may not know what you're up to, exactly, but I know that at the end of the day, you're just trying to protect Relena."

Trowa's eyes tightened, but be nodded. There was no need to say anything more. But when he glanced back up, he met Quatre's eyes. The other ex-Gundam pilot was watching him closely, and Trowa had the uneasy feeling that those bright, intuitive eyes were sifting him to the core.

Quatre pursed his lips. "Relena… and probably the rest of us, too."

* * *

 _A/N: Hi, everyone! I hope that those of you who are faithful readers of this story are still out there! Sorry, again, for a lengthy break between updates. I've been under the weather for a while now but hope to be on the mend - and bringing you more frequent updates - soon. I'm still really excited about this story and where it's headed and hope you are, too!_

 _Sorry, also, for a Heero and Relena-less chapter, but there's going to be a lot going on with the other characters, so Trowa's POV is going to become more and more essential to the story. So Trowa fans... I hope you're happy! I've been in his head a lot lately... or he's been in mine? Anyway, if you love Trowa as much as I do, you may want to check out the 3xR one-shot I posted recently,_ Cherry Lips. _But to those of you who ship 1xR and ONLY 1xR, don't worry, I'm not abandoning ship :P I would NEVER do that to you, friends! I promise more sappy-happy 1xR goodness soon... see any one of my zillion other 1xR stories here. :P_

 _Oh, and happy Sunday Funday! Who's watching (American) football today? ME._

 _Love love love,_

 _\- RFP_


	9. Hopes and Plans

**January 2, A.C. 213**

 **Early morning**

 **ESUN hospital, L3**

"What did I warn you about Trowa?" Hilde was practically gloating through the phone. Relena groaned in response.

"I know…"

"Did I or did I not tell you not to flirt with him?"

Relena sighed into the phone. "I wasn't _intentionally_ flirting…"

"Okay, well you were encouraging him," Hilde scolded.

Relena's forehead wrinkled. "Encouraging him how? By being friendly with him?"

"Yes!" Even across hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth to space, Hilde's exasperation came through clear as day.

Relena frowned, glancing about the waiting room to be sure no one could overhear her panicked friend, besides Duo, who appeared to be more interested in something on his tablet after greeting his wife and passing the phone over to Relena. She was grateful she'd taken the call off speaker, and even more relieved that they weren't vid-chatting. It was a personal conversation to be having in public, but at the moment, they didn't have much of a choice. Relena knew she could have asked Hilde if they could call her back later, but in truth she wanted a distraction while Heero was still in surgery. Waiting to hear any bit of news was agonizing, and any interruption from her worry was a welcome one. Even if all Hilde wanted to do was chastise her...

"Like it or not, by being friendly to him in _response_ to his flirtatious ways, you were just egging him on," Hilde was saying.

Relena all but snorted. "His 'flirtatious ways'? Trowa?!" He was charming, sure, but flirtatious? Relena thought him far too stoic to be labeled a flirt.

"Oh, come on, like your little inside joke about 'java' wasn't flirting?" Relena could practically hear her friend's eye roll across the phone line. "Please."

"It's just a word," Relena said defensively. "And anyway, what's wrong with an inside joke between friends? He's your friend, too," she added pointedly.

"No, he's Duo's friend whose presence I tolerate on occasion," Hilde sniffed.

"Ouch. That's harsh."

"No, really, though… would you say you and Trowa were really ever 'friends' before all this?"

That gave Relena pause. "Well. We've known each other for a long time. We _all_ have."

"That may be, but I don't see you being all giggly and sparkly-eyed with Wufei," Hilde said hotly. "Just sayin'..."

" _Sparkly_ -eyed?" Relena huffed. "Wouldn't you say that's a _slight_ exaggeration?"

"Yeah, well, I saw what I saw," Hilde retorted. "What's Heero going to say when _he_ sees?"

"Sees what?"

"The photos from the ESUN ball, of course. They're all over the internet."

Relena groaned again. "Great…"

"I think you're going to have to tell Heero about this, before he stumbles on it himself," Hilde added gently.

"Ugh, I don't get it." Relena lifted her free hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I danced with several men at the ball, like I do every year. It's part of my job as representative... Why in the world are these gossip sites only interested in Trowa?!"

"Because he's hot," Hilde said simply.

Duo jerked his head up from his tablet. "Hey! I'm hot, too, and I danced with Relena!"

"Of course you are, sweetie," Hilde cooed through the phone. "But Trowa's also not wearing a wedding ring, so…"

"Wow, you two can hear each other?" Relena lowered the phone and gaped at Duo.

"Yeah." Duo shrugged. "She's kind of impossible to tune out, so…"

"Ha- _ha_ ," Hilde shot back. "You're one to talk…"

"Please, both of you," Relena cut in, shooting a glare at Duo. "Can we please talk about something else now? I appreciate your concern, really, but… there are far more pressing things to worry about right now." She emphasized this by placing a hand over her stomach, and Duo's eyes drifted there. He immediately winced and looked away.

"Sheesh. I'm sorry. She's right, Hil," Duo added a little more loudly so his wife could hear him through the phone that was still pressed to Relena's ear.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, too," Hilde jumped in. "I just think we need to nip this Trowa thing in the bud now, before it gets any more out of hand."

Relena bristled. "Well, it's not going to. I already talked to him. And so did Duo, although we chose slightly different approaches…" She cocked her head toward her seating companion, and he let out an awkward laugh.

"Yeah, well, I may have _slightly_ overreacted, but then I was under a completely different impression," Duo said sheepishly.

"Which your mother is still under, by the way," Hilde added.

"What?!" Relena screeched, swinging panicked eyes to Duo.

"Yeah, she keeps talking about how you and Trowa 'spent the night together,' and she's practically giddy. I've never seen Mareen giddy about anything," Hilde said, barely disguising the chuckle in her voice. Duo snorted while Relena sank down into her seat, horrified.

"Oh _yeahhh_ , that's right. I forgot you told her that…" Duo reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Funny I didn't question it then… I just assumed you were kidding."

"Because I was," Relena said insistently. "Ugh, this is awful. Now how am I supposed to tell my mother that I not only lied about sleeping with Trowa, but am actually engaged to Heero?"

"Surprise!" Hilde said playfully. "'Oh, and by the way Mom, we're having twins, too!'"

Duo shook his head back and forth. "Yeah, man, that's gonna be a doozy…"

"Well, we'll get to that," Relena cut in, agitated. "First I have to tell her that the Trowa thing is a no-go, and I'm back with Heero…" She found herself sighing again. "She is _not_ going to be happy about that…"

"Yeah," Hilde agreed with a sigh of her own. Duo looked confused.

"Why not?" he asked, splaying his hands. "Doesn't she just want you to settle down already? Won't she be happy Heero's gonna make an honest woman outta ya?"

"No," Hilde and Relena chorused. Duo's brow creased.

"Huh. I didn't realize she hated him so much." He looked at Relena sympathetically while she worried her lower lip.

"It's complicated…" she said. "But in short, she's built up a lot of resentment toward him over the years."

"Well, he has stepped out on you a lot," Hilde piped up. "Can't say I really blame her there, just looking at the whole thing objectively. But we all know Heero better than that… we know how much he really loves you."

Relena nodded although her friend couldn't see. Why she felt even the slightest niggling of doubt, she wasn't sure, but she quickly pushed the feeling down.

"Of course he does," she said with all the confidence she could muster. "My mother just needs to see that. And she will, now that Heero and I are making a commitment…"

"So when's the wedding?" Hilde chirped. "More importantly, what does your maid of honor get to wear? And when are we shopping?!"

Relena laughed and allowed herself to relax, relieved the conversation had finally taken a more positive turn.

"Not any time soon," she said in answer to Hilde's question. "I don't think I could handle wedding planning right now. First I want to get Heero home and nurse him back to health…"

 _"Awww,"_ Duo and Hilde chimed in unison. Relena smiled while rolling her eyes.

" _Then_ we need to focus on these babies," she added.

"So you don't want to get married before they arrive?" Hilde asked. "People will be scandalized…"

"You mean _Mareen_ will be scandalized," Duo corrected. "I doubt most people give a sh-"

"Either way," said Relena, "there's just not enough time to squeeze in a wedding between now and July. Unless we elope, but…"

"You want a wedding," Hilde supplied.

"Yes," Relena sighed. "I've waited long enough… so what's a little longer? Anyway, I'm going to be showing soon, and with twins I'm probably going to be enormous. I don't want to walk down the aisle with a baby bump."

"Don't you mean waddle?" Duo snickered. Relena resisted the urge to elbow him in the side, like Hilde would do.

"Meanie," she said instead.

"Yeah, Duo, you don't get to comment on a woman's figure during pregnancy," Hilde said hotly. "It's a beautiful thing. And you men are the ones responsible for making us look that way, so you'd better get on board with that."

"Yes, ma'am," Duo said with a grin. He gave Relena's arm a squeeze. "Don't worry, Rel, you'll make a cute little pregnant lady."

"Yes, you will," Hilde agreed. Relena flushed.

"Aw, thanks you guys…"

"And Heero's gonna be so protective of you, you won't have to worry about him taking off on you again- _that's_ for sure," Duo added.

Hilde giggled. "Oh man, I'm picturing Heero as a dad… he's going to give whole new meaning to the phrase 'helicopter parent.'" Both Duo and Hilde laughed at that. Relena only smiled.

"I can't wait," she murmured. "Although I still can't believe this is all happening, finally."

"Well, no one deserves it more than you," Hilde said sincerely. "And if you need me to run interference on Mareen while I'm still in Brussels, let me know..."

"Oh, if only," Relena said with a groan. "Maybe you could just reiterate the fact that Trowa and I are not together, and hint that Heero and I might be? Just to prepare her for the bomb I'm about to drop?" Relena wasn't sure it would help much, but she didn't want to shock her mother into a hospital stay, either. Perhaps Hilde could find a way to soften the blow…

"What should I tell her?" Hilde asked, and Relena could tell her trusted friend was taking this assignment seriously.

"Well, you could tell her that Heero and I have… reunited, and I'm currently waiting for him in the hospital."

"Should I mention the surgery?" Hilde sounded a bit wary.

"If she asks, then sure," Relena said. "You don't have to go into detail. Just don't tell her about our engagement… _or_ the pregnancy."

"Of course not!" Hilde practically shrieked. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Yes," Duo teased.

"Not talking to you, buddy," Hilde retorted. "Anyway… You have nothing to worry about, Relena. I'll keep things super-vague."

"Thank you, Hilde. I really appreciate it."

They ended the conversation soon thereafter, with Hilde making both Duo and Relena promise to check in with her later.

"She's such a good friend," Relena said to Duo after they'd ended the call.

"Well, whaddya expect? She loves you, man," he responded with a loopy grin. "She talks about you all the time… how much she misses you, blah blah…"

Relena smiled and leaned her head against Duo's shoulder. "You guys should move closer."

"To where? L1 or Brussels?"

Relena shrugged the shoulder that wasn't touching Duo's. "I don't know… Heero and I haven't had a chance to discuss where we want to live, and raise our children…"

"Then maybe you two should move closer to _us_ ," Duo said. "We could be neighbors! Or roommates… We could just get one giant house for the whole family!"

"Oh, my God, can you imagine?" Relena pressed a hand to her mouth as she giggled. "That would be utter chaos."

"Totally," Duo agreed with a nod. "And I've roomed with Heero before; he is a nightmare of a housemate."

"Oh, really?" Relena arched a brow. She'd lived with Heero on and off as well, but had only ever been overjoyed at his presence whenever he chose to stay with her. Of course, she was a little biased…

"Yeah," Duo continued. "Major control freak with the thermostat."

"He never did that with me," Relena countered.

"Not that you know of," Duo huffed. "He probably had it all programmed exactly how he wanted it, and you never questioned him about it because you love him _sooo_ much…"

Now Relena did elbow Duo in the side, albeit gently. "All right, so he can be a tad fastidious at times…"

"A _tad_... at times?!" Duo balked. "Are we talkin' about the same guy here?"

Relena smiled fondly. "Heero's just very thorough."

"He's very psycho," Duo shot back.

Relena just sighed and shook her head, breaking their contact. "So he likes things how he likes them. I don't mind. As long as I get to be with him... You should appreciate that," she added, "as someone who's been married for a long time."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Duo rolled his eyes playfully. "And I'm sure Heero knows just how lucky he is to find a woman who will put up with him and his… ways."

Relena laughed at that. "Well, I'm lucky, too…"

"Mrs. Yuy?"

Relena's head shot up at the use of her not-yet-married name. She'd momentarily forgotten Heero had filled out their paperwork that way.

"Yes?" Relena shot to her feet as Heero's doctor approached. She remembered his last name was Munroe, although she could not recall his first name. Relena instantly disliked his grave expression as he shuffled over to them, but then he'd looked exactly the same when she'd met him hours earlier, right before he took Heero into surgery. Relena assumed the man was always serious, given his profession.

Dr. Munroe had a clean lab coat on over his scrubs, which contrasted with his overgrown salt and pepper stubble and the dark circles under his eyes. "May I have a word?" he asked Relena, without glancing over to Duo.

Relena felt Duo squeezing her hand, but she kept her eyes on the doctor. "Is Heero out of surgery?"

Dr. Munroe gestured toward the double doors leading to the nearby hallway. "Come this way, please," he said without a trace of emotion. Relena's hackles went up as soon as she realized he'd dodged her question. "We should speak privately," the doctor added.

Relena shot worried eyes to Duo, and saw that he looked as anxious as she felt.

"All right," she said warily, turning to follow the doctor. Duo started to rise from his seat, but looked unsure of himself. "Come with us," Relena said, answering the question for him.

"Is he family?" Munroe asked over his shoulder.

"Yes," Relena answered immediately.

Duo looped an arm across her shoulders and hugged her to his side. Relena allowed herself to lean on him as they followed the doctor out of the waiting room, her heartbeat thundering with every step.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter! Your comments spurred me on to start the next installment right away. I hope to have more time to focus on this story for the time-being so you shouldn't have to wait_ too _long between updates. Of course I say that, now... :D_

 _The plot is thickening, my friends! I hope you'll stay with me! And... just trust the process._

 _Happy Sunday Funday!_

 _\- RFP_


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